President's Message
Dr Simon Gabe, BAPEN President
Welcome to the second issue of the new look ‘In Touch’ which we hope you are enjoying. As you know we switched to the new format in response to an overwhelming request from our members to go digital. It is early days but we have looked at the click through figures so can see that whilst many of you have accessed the new e-In Touch not all of you have. In Touch has always been a really important communications tool for BAPEN to keep its members up to date with news and views. Please do ensure that you take a little bit of time to access and then read each issue. If you feel there are ways that we could improve this version even more please do let us know through the BAPEN office. We really value your ongoing feedback.
In the last issue I explained that we were drafting a 5-year Vision and Strategy for BAPEN and that we were running a Think Tank in June to drill down, reflect and debate on our core mission and determine what our focus should be over the next five years. The meeting took place in Birmingham on the 14th June and we worked through a really good agenda which encouraged lots of ideas and engagement from all those who participated. As I write this I am also making some final changes to the Vision and Strategy document which will be circulated to the membership in September for your input and comment. We then plan to share the final Vision and Strategy at our annual Conference in November.
Talking about our Conference I do hope many of you that are planning to come will be able to take advantage of the Early Bird offers that will available through the website – make sure you check them out. Each year our BAPEN Conference seems to get bigger and better and this year, as we mark our 25th Anniversary, will be no exception. The 2017 Conference is being held in Birmingham on the 21st and 22nd November. Please do let your colleagues know about our Conference and encourage them to come along as it really is a great place to network and to learn more about the latest advances as well as challenges in providing optimal nutritional care.
Importantly, I wanted to remind you all that PINNT, one of BAPEN’s Core Groups, is 30 this year! I am sure you will all want to join me in congratulating Carolyn Wheatley and her team on everything PINNT has achieved over the past 30 years not just in the UK but also at a European and International level. HAN Awareness Week is taking place this year between 7-13th August and as always there is lots of activity planned. Please visit the Core Groups section or www.pinnt.com to find out more.
Talking of websites has made me think of online activity in general and the fact that more and more of us are getting information on the hoof via Facebook and Twitter. BAPEN is also increasing its outreach through these platforms and it is a great way to keep up to speed with news. If you are not already following BAPEN through Facebook and Twitter please sign up – it is an easy way to keep in touch with everything that is going on.
Finally, I want to encourage you to sign up to use the BAPEN Nutritional Care Tool during the next national data collection week which takes place w/c 11th September 2017.
The BAPEN Nutritional Care Tool overview:
- The Tool is free to all NHS and social care organisations
- Completion takes approximately 5 minutes per individual
- The data are instantly available to frontline teams to deliver improvements
- Improvements in nutritional care can be delivered whilst the patient is still in your care
- The Tool is completely voluntary so it is up to you how frequently you use it and the scale of use.