Nutrition - Nutritional care communication tool

Improving the information shared about an individual's needs is a common theme arising from reviews of nutrition and hydration (BAPEN 2011; NHS Quality Improvement Scotland 2010). The continuity of care can be disrupted by poor discharge planning.

A communication tool has been developed as an aid to record nutritional information at the point of admission/discharge to/from the care home or ward (Healthcare Improvement Scotland 2011a). It has been tested by several acute units and care homes in Scotland.

Health Improvement Scotland (Healthcare Improvement Scotland 2011b) reports that staff have responded positively to the tool and that compliance and accuracy have increased over time. Individual food preferences and requirements have been easier to identify, and immediate availability of nutritional information in the transfer of patients from hospital to care homes has been appreciated (Healthcare Improvement Scotland 2012).

A Healthcare Improvement Scotland document comments that while using a tool such as this can help the process of transition it "does not guarantee individual needs are being met. Insufficient information relating to therapeutic diets remains a challenge that may relate to staff knowledge and understanding" (Healthcare Improvement Scotland 2011c, p.13).

References

These resources were last accessed on 29 January 2013. Some of them are in PDF format - see how to use PDF files.

BAPEN (2011) Nutrition screening survey in the UK and Republic of Ireland in 2010. A Report by the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN). Hospitals, care homes and mental health units (PDF 2.43MB). Redditch: BAPEN.
 
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (2011a) Nutritional care communication tool. Edinburgh: Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (2011b) Improving nutrition...improving care: Event report. Edinburgh: Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (2011c) Improving nutrition .... improving care interim report. Edinburgh: Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (2012) Improving  nutrition ...improving care: Final report from the Improving Nutritional Care programme. Edinburgh: Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

NHS Quality Improvement Scotland  (2010) The food fluid and nutritional care in hospitals national overview. Edinburgh: NHS QIS (now made available on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website).