Most of the teams who want to come on the course are faced with the prospect of finding the necessary funding. Experience has shown us that you can often help yourselves by doing some initial homework! This will make it easier to approach your Trust Board for support in the first instance and should stand you in good stead in other contexts as well.
Having an insight into what happens in your own hospital is fundamental to gaining credibility and, as a team, you should clarify the following:
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the type of the hospital e.g. acute, teaching, specialist etc - how many does the team provide a service to?
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number of beds
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current nutritional position
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who holds the budget(s)?
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how many patients are on:
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PN?
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EN?
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HPN/HEN?
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what is the annual cost of nutritional support?
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what is the average length of stay for a patient on NS on the attending clinician’s ward? Does this differ from patients not receiving NS?
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Are there any other multidisciplinary beds managed on a multi professional basis?
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Are there any points in "Organisation of Nutrition Support in Hospitals" (BAPEN) that are particularly relevant for your team
Compiling this information (and any other local data which you think will help your case) will help to demonstrate your commitment to the task in hand and will also highlight some of the complex issues which have to be addressed when setting up a nutrition support team.
Good Luck!