Nutritional screening
Vale of Leven Inquiry · The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report · Issued 24 November 2014 · Addressed to: NHS Health Boards (Scotland)
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Health Boards should ensure that all patients have their nutritional status screened on admission to a ward using a recognised nutritional screening tool.
Vale of Leven Inquiry, The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report · 24 Nov 2014 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Scottish Government's response acknowledged criticisms of nutritional assessment and recording, and outlined measures to improve nutritional screening. NHS boards are expected to use recognised nutritional screening tools (such as MUST — Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool) on admission.
- The Food in Hospitals standards and the Health and Social Care Standards require that patients' nutritional needs are assessed on admission and regularly reviewed (Health and Social Care Standards (https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-social-care-standards-support-life/)).
- Healthcare Improvement Scotland includes nutrition and hydration assessment in its inspection framework.
Response — verbatim from government
●Scottish Government
Section 4.1 of the Scottish Government's response acknowledges the report's criticisms of specific elements of nursing care, including the unsatisfactory assessment and recording of patients' nutritional status. The government unreservedly accepts in full the report's recommendations relating to nursing care and recognises the identified system and individual failures. It expresses high confidence in the NHS nursing workforce and highlights support initiatives for nursing introduced in recent years, which aim to uphold high standards of care.
Scottish Government · 18 Jun 2015 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 1 Jan 2025 · Healthcare Improvement Scotland Excellence in Care CAIR Dashboard includes nutritional screening measures. National Food Fluid and Nutritional Care Standards published by HIS. View source → Good Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.