Rebecca Martin, Community Dietitian
Being one of only a few dysphagia-trained dietitians, I was very pleased to be approached to represent BAPEN for a project being conducted by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), which involved a position statement regarding the use of thickeners.
I attended an initial meeting towards the end of March. The meeting was to inform the group that a statement about the use of thickeners had already been written and this was due to be published on 27th March 2023. I was subsequently provided with a copy of the statement to read through. Input from the dietetic community was requested around potential resources that could support clinicians with implementing the statement. My main question at this initial meeting was about the evidence base and access to a summary of evidence in order to support practice, particularly for health care professionals who may be less familiar with use of thickeners. Kathleen Graham, Senior Project Manager, RCSLT, has stated that there is due to be a follow up position paper, which will give more detail on published evidence to help guide decision-making.
My intention is to attend future meetings and to represent BAPEN with any queries or resources that may be useful.
To read the statement: www.rcslt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Position-statement-thickened-fluids-1.pdf
We will keep you up to date on the activity of this group, but please get in touch with any queries: bapen@bapen.org.uk