NUTRITION CARE AUDIT The Nutrition & Dietetics Department conducted the twice-yearly nutrition care audit in March 2025. 77 adult patients were included in the audit across all adult wards (excluding maternity) with an overall compliance rate of 61%. 8 paediatric patients were included in the audit with a compliance rate of 83%, where target compliance for the nutrition care audit is 85%. Positive findings include:
• Patients being correctly positioned for meal service. • Patient’s requiring assistance/supervision at mealtimes receiving this. • Patients’ mealtimes not being interrupted with non-urgent activities by staff. • Patients being screened for malnutrition. • Patients at risk of malnutrition were referred to the Dietitian Improvement opportunities include:
• Patients’ weight and height to be measured during admission • Clearing of over bed table of clutter to allow Food Service to deliver meal safely • Patients being offered hand hygiene prior to meal service. • Food Service to offer patients assistance with opening packages and/or taking lids off meals.
HITTING THE RIGHT NOTE FOR PATIENTS
Only a few hospitals in Australia have one and now Hornsby joins Royal North Shore Hospital in boasting an accredited stroke unit. Patients can be assured they are receiving the very best care with the dedicated stroke unit which received the accreditation from the Australian Stroke Coalition and Stroke Foundation for its standard of care, training and services it offers. The stroke unit treats about 210 patients a year and since 2022 began thrombolysising patients, through clot-busting medication.
Dr Omar Ahmad, neurologist and head of neurology at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital, said 93 percent of patients who presented with stroke at Hornsby were admitted into the stroke unit within the first few days of their care. “ It means people who are being managed by experienced staff, have dedicated monitoring in a dedicated stroke area, compared to patients who are on a general ward,” he said. “ We know that patients on a general ward are more poorly managed than in a stroke unit. “This is about reducing mortality in strokes and maintaining high standards of care throughout the system .” The accreditation will continually be monitored every four years by the Australian Stroke Coalition, which has established a set of standards for stroke units to achieve by 2030 to improve outcomes.
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