Committee, Council & SIG Updates
Faculty
Alastair McKinlay, Co-Chair, BAPEN Faculty
Faculty has been working on a number of projects over the past 3 months.
The BAPEN Coaching programme will begin in May, primarily targeting BAPEN Officers or Council members who want guidance to further develop their roles. Anyone interested in taking on a leadership role in BAPEN, but who might feel unprepared for the responsibilities involved, are also encouraged to apply for coaching. However, places are limited and cannot be guaranteed.
The BAPEN mentoring programme will be open to anyone who is a member of BAPEN or one of the Core Groups, and will launch in November at the Conference. Those people who expressed an interest in mentoring will be contacted in May, and there will be a meeting for potential mentors in September. Anyone who is interested in mentoring can still contact the BAPEN Office and note an interest. A new post, the BAPEN Mentoring and Coaching Lead, will be advertised shortly.
Faculty is reviewing all BAPEN’s awards to make sure that we recognise everyone who contributes to the working of the organisation, including those people outside of BAPEN who have assisted our work or lent us their support.
Finally, we have completed an extensive report that tries to identify areas that BAPEN might develop in the future. The purpose of the ‘Blue Sky Report’ is to stimulate discussion and encourage innovative thinking.
Like all of the work undertaken by Faculty, the report is advisory and not binding. We hope it will be made available to everyone once Council and the Board of Trustees has had a chance to review it and digest its contents. Hopefully, it will prove fruitful, rather than triggering indigestion!
BIFA Update
Kirstine Farrer, Consultant Dietitian – Secretary/Deputy Chair, BIFA
www.bapen.org.uk/groups/bapen-special-interest-groups/british-intestinal-failure-alliance-bifa
There have been changes to the membership at the end of 2024. Nicky Wyer has replaced Alison Culkin as one of the PENG representatives; Uchu Meade and Graeme Doherty have replaced Ruth Newton; Breege Kirkham is the new NNNG rep, and Kirstine Farrer has become the deputy chair for BIFA.
Jeremy Nightingale and Kirstine Farrer presented at the National IF reference centres meeting held in Salford in January 2025, which was well received and highlighted the latest publications and most popular documents.
The latest Top Tip document is on acid base problems in patients with intestinal failure: https://bapen.org.uk/pdfs/bifa/bifa-top-tips-series-29.pdf.
We have a new guideline on the prevention and treatment of metabolic bone disease in the management of chronic intestinal failure: www.bapen.org.uk/pdfs/bifa/guidelines-for-metabolic-bone-disease-in-if.pdf.
Our new position statement is on Guidelines for Transitioning Adolescent and Young Persons with Intestinal Failure into Adult Service, this will be available if you log into the members section of the BAPEN website. As with all position statements, recommendations and guidelines they are available for comments for the first 3 months before they become definite.
Since release, the BIFA Top Tips podcast series has been played 4,514 times, across both Apple podcasts and Spotify. The breakdown for each episode is included below, with the second episode gaining the most interest on both streaming platforms:
- BIFA Top Tips: High Output Stomas (23.12.22) = 697 starts
- BIFA Top Tips: Refeeding Syndrome (30.03.23) = 2,684 starts
- BIFA Top Tips: Distal Enteral Tube Feeding (19.10.23) = 1,133 starts.
In total, there have been 5,165 downloads of BIFA publications since March 2024. BIFA Top Tips edition 1 (Management of a High Output Stoma) has had the most download (across both the original and updated versions).
The top downloaded documents don’t change drastically month to month, but the top 5 downloads over the past 12 months are listed below:
- Guidelines for Metabolic Bone Disease – 267 downloads
- BIFA IFALD Guidelines – 256 downloads
- BIFA Top Tips Management of a High Output Stoma – 254 downloads
- Position Statement on the Use of High Dose Loperamide in Patients with Short Bowel – 245 downloads
- Standardised Parenteral Support Catheter Guidelines – 223 downloads.
We are always keen to hear about new suggestions for documents, or if you have found the resources useful, please do contact Jeremy Nightingale or myself directly should you have any suggestions or questions.
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