An assessment of the quality of inpatient meals and nutrition and dietetics processes in select public hospitals in the Philippines

In hospitals, nutrition care is a set of actions that allows for the identification of patient nutritional needs and the provision of care to address those needs. Optimal nutrition for inpatients has a critical role in the prevention and treatment of diseases: It helps boost the body's immune system, reduces the risk of disease and infection, and aids in the recovery from illness. In Philippine public hospitals, nutrition care is provided by the Nutrition and Dietetics Service. In this work, we give a case study on one of the hospital processes—the quality of hospital nutrition. Processes refer to the way care is delivered and whether it is aligned to evidenced-based practice or standards. We looked at whether Philippine public hospitals deliver high-quality, nutritionally appropriate meals to inpatients, adhere to the minimum meal allowance budget, and follow the minimal NDS inputs and process standards. Apart from the issue of unmet minimum meal allowance budget and nutritional content, we were able to unpack concerns related to human resources, equipment, management functions, and other NDS processes that could have an impact on the quality of nutrition care delivered. The general insight in enhancing the nutritional care offered in hospitals is to look at Nutrition and Dietetics Service as a whole, rather than just increasing the minimum meal allowance budget. The Department of Health must also guarantee that the value of high-quality nutrition care is recognized in hospitals, as it is often overlooked that it has an impact on total patient care quality.