Findings from the latest national Nutrition Screening Week Survey and Audit published by the British Association of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN) demonstrate that action is urgently needed to tackle malnutrition across all age groups and in all care settings.
The National Prescribing Centre (NPC) has published new guiding principles for oral nutrition supplements (ONS) for adults . ONS are a critical form of nutritional support for patients who, for a variety of reasons, cannot meet their nutritional needs through food alone. They are an important tool for clinicians in tackling malnutrition – which affects more than 3 million people in the UK and is particularly common among the elderly.
Carers UK and Nutricia have published a new report, Malnutrition and Caring: the hidden cost for families, which shows that without the right advice and support, families managing the health conditions of older and disabled family members end up struggling to cope with the consequences of malnutrition
Patient Safety First, a campaign group which focuses on improving patient safety in the health service, has announced that on 23 January it will be partnering with the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) to launch a week focused on nutrition and hydration: 'A taste of patient safety'.
The long awaited Food Information to Consumers Regulation was published in November 2011. This new Regulation will result in changes to most food and drink labels, including those of specialist nutrition products. The majority of these label changes will need to be made by December 2014 in accordance with the transition periods for the Regulation.
The European Commission's proposal to revise the current legislation for Foods for Particular Nutritional Uses (PARNUTs), known as the 'PARNUTs Framework Directive', has been under discussion by the European Council of Ministers since October 2011 and the Polish Presidency of the Council has issued a report on the progress to date as part of its handover to the new Danish Presidency which will take over from 1 January 2012.
The European Commission published a proposal to revise the current legislation for Foods for Particular Nutritional Uses (PARNUTs), known as the 'PARNUTs Framework Directive', in June 2011. The Commission proposal is now under discussion by the European Council of Ministers.
Representatives from the European Parliament, the Polish Presidency of the EU and other groups concerned about health and nutrition have come together to raise awareness of the problems of disease related malnutrition across the EU and subsequent consequences on healthcare. Disease related malnutrition affects around 20 million EU citizens per year at a cost of up to 120 billion Euros.
Responding to the report on the Daily Mail about the findings of the Care Quality Commission's hospital spot-checks, Roger Clarke, Director General of BSNA says:
“Hospitals are still not getting the basics right and this is unacceptable. Nutritional care is not just a 'nice-to-have', it's essential for every patient. Without good nutrition, patients cannot be expected to recover well from illness or injury. We are deeply concerned that so many hospitals were identified by the CQC as needing to improve.
The NHS White Paper, Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS, published in July 2010, and subsequent consultations confirmed that in the future the NHS will focus on delivering improvements in patient outcomes rather than on processes and targets. BSNA asked its expert members to give thought to the key elements of a quality standard on nutrition to help to stimulate discussion among the nutrition community of what high quality nutritional care should look like in hospital and, indeed, in other care settings.
The UK's Patients Association have launched a new report 'Malnutrition in the community and hospital setting' which shows a lack of awareness of malnutrition, particularly how to prevent and treat it and where to seek advice. Over 3 million people in the UK are either malnourished or at risk of being so costing an estimated £13 billion to the NHS.
The UK Department of Health has launched a consultation on the proposals put forward by the European Commission for the revision of the current legislation for Foods for Particular Nutritional Uses (PARNUTs), known as the 'PARNUTs Framework Directive'.
The European Commission published new proposals for the Dietetic foods sector on 20 June 2011. These proposals suggest that slimming foods (meal replacements), sports nutrition products and gluten-free foods become “general” foods.
The Care Quality Commission are publishing a series of reports from their inspection programme assessing the care of the elderly in the NHS in England. Key elements of the programme include ensuring dignity and respect as well as ensuring an adequate and appropriate nutritional intake for elderly patients in hospital.
A new series of fact sheets reviewing each of the specialist nutrition categories from a European view has been published by IDACE. IDACE is the European Trade Association for specialist nutrition products and is based in Brussels. The fact sheets cover infant and follow-on formula, complementary foods, medical foods, gluten free foods, sport foods and slimming foods. These categories are governed by the PARNUTs Framework Directive (Foods for PARticular NUTritional purposes). The PARNUTs Framework Directive is currently undergoing review and redrafting in Brussels and these fact sheets provide information on each category and show the importance of clear regulation for these important products.
As many as three million individuals in the UK are either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition i. However, malnutrition remains an under-recognised and under-treated condition. Malnutrition has a significant economic impact on both hospitals and other care settings. In the UK, an estimated 93% of those individuals who are malnourished, or at risk of malnutrition, live in the community.i
Specialist nutrition products, designed for people with specific nutritional requirements, are governed by a specialist Directive. This is called 'The PARNUTs Framework Directive', where 'PARNUTs' is a phrase used to describe foods for PARticular NUTritional purposes.
The PARNUTs Framework Directive is currently undergoing review and redrafting in Brussels and this review provides an insight into the potential impacts of changes to the regulations.. This article was first published in the February 2011 edition of Dietetics Today and is reproduced by kind permission of The British Dietetic Association.
The National Audit of Dementia published their preliminary findings in December 2010. The report reviews the care for sufferers of dementia at hospital level in the UK.
Of particular interest to the BSNA is the information on nutrition and hydration status in dementia patients.
BSNA welcomes the campaign led by the Patients Association to end the neglect of the elderly and combat the burden of malnutrition in the NHS. Official figures reveal that a record 13,500 patients fell victim to some form of nutritional deficiency last year after entering hospital for treatment. Sadly, vulnerable groups such as the elderly, cancer patients and those who suffer from dementia are most at risk.
The 2010 BAPEN 'Malnutrition Matters' conference launched further evidence that the fight against malnutrition in the UK is far from over. According to preliminary results of BAPEN's Winter Nutrition Screening Week, there was a recorded increase in annual data on malnutrition on admission to hospital and care, with 1 in 3 of all patients of all ages admitted into hospital and care homes at risk of malnutrition.
EFSA conclude there is no common lactose tolerability limit
The final scope for the Crohn's disease: The management of Crohn's disease clinical guideline has now been published on the NICE website.
The development of the guidance recommendations will begin in September 2010.
Malnutrition is the effect of an inadequate supply of nutrients and energy to the body. The effects of malnutrition are well documented and include an increase in recovery time from illness or surgery. It can also affect the body's immune response increasing susceptibility to infection.
Nutrition Labelling is Changing. In October 2008, the EU updated nutrition labelling legislation and this has been reflected in changes to the nutrition labelling directive to take into account of research on RDAs, fibre and erythritol.