President's Message
Dr Trevor Smith, BAPEN President
This year seems to be flying by, but I hope everybody is looking forward to the summer months ahead. I am pleased to share a round-up of various activities over the past few months, as well as highlight a couple of upcoming plans that I hope many of you will get involved in.
Nutrition and Hydration Week
In mid-March we celebrated Nutrition and Hydration Week 2022. This year was particularly special as it was the campaign’s 10th anniversary, and it was fantastic to see so much involvement both on social media and in various Trusts and care settings across the country. Nutrition and Hydration Week is committed to encouraging conversations and deepen understanding of nutrition and hydration as critical pillars, in health and social care settings locally, nationally, and globally. This message is something I, and BAPEN collectively, wholeheartedly support and is very central to our vision. I was pleased to get involved by contributing BAPEN’s ‘pledge’ card, which was one of the campaign’s calls-to-action. BAPEN’s pledge touched on the importance of making a difference everyday through multidisciplinary approaches to patient care, particularly the sharing of best practice. I’d like to extend my congratulations to the team running Nutrition and Hydration Week and I look forward to supporting future campaigns to come to continue raising awareness.
BSPGHAN annual conference
Towards the end of April, BSPGHAN – one of our Core Groups – hosted their annual conference. The conference was a real success, and it was great to see the execution of the event in person, in Birmingham! #BSPGHAN2022 welcomed a range of keynote speakers in the paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition space, and the engagement and buzz generated on social media was inspiring to see. Hats off to Dr Sue Protheroe and her team at BSPGHAN!
Intestinal failure registry
From April, it has become mandatory for designated Intestinal Failure centres in England to record data on the IF registry. The aim of the registry is to provide important information on clinical activity and outcomes for patients managed in IF units across UK hospitals. The registry also provides a consistent national dataset that can facilitate improvements in quality and clinical outcomes for patients. There is a comprehensive how-to guide available on the homepage when you log in to the IF Registry which should provide all the information you need. The IF registry is accessible from this link from NHS servers: https://ifregistry.streetsheaver.thirdparty.nhs.uk/ifregistry.
International Nurses Day
A few weeks ago, we marked International Nurses Day (12 May). I was delighted to extend my praise to all nurses around the UK, not just on awareness days like this but throughout the year. Nurses play a truly vital role in patient care, including identifying the need for and implementing effective nutritional care. BAPEN works closely with the National Nurses Nutrition Group (NNNG), one of our Core Groups, which is comprised of fantastic nutritional nurses who work tirelessly for their patients. Claire Campbell, the Chair of NNNG, was recently interviewed as part of our ‘Getting to know BAPEN series’, where she talks about first stepping into her role, and what it involves. Have a read of the interview here: www.bapen.org.uk/about-bapen/about-us/bapen-our-structure/getting-to-know-the-bapen-team/claire-campbell.
NNNG conference week 2022
Which leads me nicely onto NNNG’s Conference Week, which is taking place 11- 15 July 2022. This event will cover the diverse and complex world of nutrition and nutrition support, with award winning, experienced speakers from across the spectrum of healthcare. Sessions include nutritional screening, clinical workshops, Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition, and nutrition in COPD, long-Covid, and dementia. Find out more about the programme, and how to register, here: www.nnngconference.co.uk/.
New e-learning website
BAPEN recently launched a new e-learning website. The updated site has a new and improved interface, especially for mobile devices, and the hope is that this makes it easier to navigate and faster to use! Another new feature is a ‘Personal Dashboard’ which enables you to be able to view recently accessed courses and course overviews. I encourage you to check the new platform out at: https://bapenlearning.org.
I’d also like to remind you that the webinar series from our 2021 conference is still available to view on demand at your own convenience here: www.bapen.org.uk/resources-and-education/meetings/annual-conference/webinar-series-2021-on-demand.
Please do save the date for this year’s BAPEN conference – 29 & 30 November 2022 – at the Hilton Brighton Metropole. I am very excited to be able to meet again in person, and I know the conference committee is working hard on the programme.
Conference allows us to celebrate the multidisciplinary nature of our organisation, as we welcome attendees from a range of inter-connected disciplines. We always look to ensure that there is something for everyone in our sessions to reflect the breadth of BAPEN’s membership. Conference provides a setting where we are able to share best practice, learn from one another – and further improve patient care – the importance of doing this together, as a collective multidisciplinary team, cannot be overstated. Keep your eyes peeled for more details about the programme coming soon! In the meantime, abstract submissions have opened and more information can be found here: www.bapen.org.uk/resources-and-education/meetings/annual-conference/abstract-submission-process.
As always, keep an eye out on our social media – Twitter @BAPENUK and Facebook @UKBAPEN – and website for information on upcoming events, publications, statements and training and education meetings.
Best wishes
Trevor
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