Carolyn Wheatley, PINNT Chair

Email: comms@pinnt.com

Website: http://pinnt.com

Facebook: PINNTcharity

Twitter: @pinntcharity

 

SAVE THE DATE – HAN Week 2018 – 6th-12th August 2018

• What could you do to raise awareness during HAN week 2018?
• Why not share with colleagues what you do to make a difference for those on home artificial nutrition?
• Share the valuable work you do to support patients and carers on home artificial nutrition!

Contact PINNT via comms@pinnt.com if you have an event you’d like them to know about to support awareness.

 

Claire Campbell, NNNG Communications Officer

Email: nationalnursesnutritiongroup@gmail.com

Website: www.nnng.org.uk

Twitter: @NNNGUK

There are only weeks to go until the NNNG Conference in Solihull, but there is still plenty of time to register to attend! The programme is diverse, the speakers excellent and the networking opportunities are plentiful. Visit: www.nnng.org.uk for information on how to register and programme details.

Our new look, mobile friendly website is proving to be very popular with members and non-members alike, experiencing its largest number of hits and downloads. This engagement is exciting, not just for the NNNG but also in the promotion of this area of patient care. With the launch of the new website came the new professional forum. This is a web-based site, accessible from mobile devices enabling our members to remain in touch whenever they need to.

The beginning of this year has been very busy as we continue to work with medical and AHP colleagues to promote the importance of nutrition and nutrition support in all its guises. This includes national guidelines and initiatives as well as training programmes, drawing on expertise from all in order to improve the care, treatment and patient experience.

The challenges that face us all in our work are enormous and complex. Everything is a priority. Nutrition and hydration is a speciality that needs everyone’s acknowledgement and participation. It spans all specialities in both primary and secondary care. This can make it a hard sell when trying to engage commissioners, managers, and finance. We need to provide the evidence that highlights not only its importance in prevention of admission to hospital and in-patient recovery, but also its connection with key areas, such as pressure ulcer prevention, AKI and falls – make those links between nutritional status and outcome. Yet, at the same time, we need to be mindful of times when nutritional support is no longer appropriate and when communication with patients, their families and also colleagues is so important in decision making.

Good nutrition needs nurses. Excellent nutrition needs nutrition nurse specialists. This year's Conference is a reminder of the role and good work that we play in promoting nutrition in our hospitals and community. We are a vital cog in healthcare and we need to make our voices heard.

Dr Stephen Lewis, BAPEN Medical Chair

Email: StephenLewis1@nhs.net

Website: www.bapen.org.uk/about-bapen/bapen-core-groups/bapen-medical

The BAPEN Medical committee have been busy organising of our next annual Teaching Day (the day before the main BAPEN Conference on Monday 21st November) in Harrogate.

The day will provide a state of the art update on nutritional management at the extremes of human physiology. We have secured some excellent speakers who will cover a range of subjects including the inpatient management of anorexia nervosa, vitamin & micronutrient deficiency, nutritional challenges in refuges, sarcopenic obesity, the nutritional management of perioperative complications, the nutritional management of critically ill patients. Topics will be covered using formal talks and interactive case presentations by a variety of doctors, dietitians and nurse specialists within the field. I am sure the day will appeal to people to anyone with an interest in clinical nutrition and will be a great success.

In addition, we have secured Charles Spence and Alan Mackie for our symposium on Gastrophysics at the BAPEN Conference. They will explore the science of eating and how our senses affect our perception of hunger and what we eat. Our other session will be on prehabilitation – getting fit for surgery. Nutrition is part of a multimodal approach to optimise patients before their surgery and improve outcomes.

Kate Hall, PENG Chair

Email: communications.peng@bda.uk.com

Website: www.peng.org.uk

Twitter: @PENGDT

PENG's Clinical Update tutors are gearing up for this year's Clinical Update Masters Course, which is being held in June. It has been another successful year to date with regards to registrant numbers, which is reflective of the hard work that everyone involved in organising and delivering the course do. For those who have not read the article about the Course that featured in CN Magazines earlier this year, please click here.

Congratulations to Alison Culkin and Kirstine Farrer who have each been awarded a BDA Ibex this year and will officially receive their Awards at the BDA Awards evening in June. The award is great recognition for their work in dietetics and the wider healthcare community.

The updated PENG Pocket Guide to Clinical Nutrition is soon to be launched! All the authors and editors are currently working really hard to ensure each chapter is up-to-date with the most recent evidence, and that it remains practical in its approach. Some information is available on the PENG website, including new videos featuring some of the authors and Bruno Mafrici and Vera Todorovic who are the editors of this updated edition. To view the videos and find out more, click here. All of those who were PENG members in the 2017/18 membership year are entitled to receive a complimentary copy of the new Pocket Guide once it is available and information will be coming through to those individuals very soon. With the new PENG membership year starting on 1st March this also marked the option for PENG members to take up the free BAPEN membership which all PENG members are now entitled to.

The PENG Study Day will be held on 26th September this year, in Birmingham, and will focus on parenteral nutrition, the agenda will be based on dietetic feedback following the survey we carried out with dietitians so that we can tailor the day to meet dietetic member's needs. Further details will be available over the coming months. PENG are also working with the BAPEN Conference 2018 programmes committee to help support a session focusing on home enteral feeding – please keep an eye on the BAPEN website for details as they are announced.

The PENG Committee would like to say congratulations to all those shortlisted for the 2018 CN Awards and good luck!

Finally, the PENG Award has been announced for 2018 and more information can be found by clicking here. Also, if you would like to find out more about any of the PENG projects, such as the competency work or dietetic outcomes workstreams, please get in touch via: peng@bda.uk.com