President's Message
Dr Simon Gabe, BAPEN President
Welcome to the September 2018 edition of InTouch! We’ve had a busy few months since the last update in June - here are our highlights.
NHS at 70
On July 5th, the country celebrated the 70th birthday of the NHS. It was great to see so many of our members reflecting on how the National Health Service has played an important part in your lives and careers. Many of us no doubt had similar emotions and sentiments upon reaching this great milestone. For me, the NHS is world class, and the people who work within it achieve remarkable things every day, but it would be wrong not to acknowledge the challenges, not least in clinical nutrition, which touches on all patients in every setting, from screening for malnutrition to nutrition advice and artificial nutrition support. We must have further funding in order to be able to support the needs of patients who are nutritionally in need wherever they come into contact with the NHS.
HAN Week
The latest Home Artificial Nutrition (HAN) Week took place from 6th-12th August, and PINNT, a BAPEN Core Group, did an amazing job of promoting the role of home artificial nutrition. PINNT is a support group for people who receive this type of treatment and has been running this campaign annually since 2013, producing videos, spreading the word on social media, and publishing stories. All of these are effective ways of reminding patients, families and carers that they’re not alone, and can access guidance if they need it.
Malnutrition Awareness Week
We are thrilled to announce that, in collaboration with the Malnutrition Task Force, BAPEN is launching the first ever UK Malnutrition Awareness Week, which will be taking place in October this year. At BAPEN, we strive to raise awareness of malnutrition and we work tirelessly to advance the nutritional care of those at risk from malnutrition in the wider community. During the week we will be aiming to address some of the myths and misconceptions about malnutrition, and improve awareness of the symptoms, impact and risk factors. One of the things we aim to do is to raise awareness of our self-screening tool which we believe should be more widely used. Click here for more details.
News about Data Collection Week
Our quarterly Nutritional Care Tool Data Collection Weeks have proven to be effective methods of gaining data which can help to have an impact on a national scale. By measuring various steps of nutritional care, from screening, all the way through to overall patient experience, we can refine our support for patients, carers and healthcare professionals. We have decided to move the last Data Collection Week of this year to October to tie it in with Malnutrition Awareness Week, so all the more reason to get involved!
BAPEN Conference 2018 and Abstract Submission
One of the highlights of our calendar, the BAPEN 2018 Annual Conference, is coming up, taking place in Harrogate from 20th-21st November, with a pre-conference training day on the 19th. This year, the symposia will cover topics including home enteral tube feeding; invasive access for enteral nutrition; and gastrophysics and the ‘shape’ of food. Submitting an abstract is a fantastic way to progress within your career – so thank you to everyone who’s done so already! Training-grade doctors and surgeons who submit quality abstracts based around research and clinical aspects of nutrition can have the chance to win the renowned Powell-Tuck Prize, while we’re also encouraging dietitians to submit abstracts on nutritional support for the PENG Award. Late breaking abstracts will be accepted until Monday 3rd September, and don’t forget there is a chance to be published in the online eSPEN Clinical Nutrition. We look forward to seeing you all in Harrogate for an unmissable event!
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