Patient Groups & International Nutrition Experts Call on Irish Government.

Patient Groups & International Nutrition Experts Call on Irish Government to take action to prevent old and chronically ill become malnourished

· Patient Organisations attending Dublin conference on the impact of malnutrition join in call for Government to implement key actions to prevent malnutrition in the Irish healthcare system

· Malnutrition is avoidable and easy to treat, yet over 140,000 are put at risk every year

· Malnourished patients are between two and three times more likely to die within six months

· Less than 10% of hospitals in Ireland are routinely screening for malnutrition despite Department of Health guidelines issued 4 years ago