About BANS
The British Artificial Nutrition Survey (BANS) was established in 1996 and consolidated work previously undertaken by the Salford HPN register and the Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Group (PEN Group) Home Enteral Tube Feeding (HETF) register. The BANS Committee, which reflects the multidisciplinary nature of BAPEN, publishes reports that can be accessed on the BAPEN website. BANS relies on the voluntary contributions of health care professionals to report data on adults and children receiving nutrition support including enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition.
Overall Aim of BANS:
To audit nutrition support modalities across the United Kingdom and to publish national and regional findings on an annual basis and provide ad hoc reports as required by interested parties.
Specific Objectives:
- To monitor at national and regional level the growth of artificial nutrition support in hospitals and the community
- To track treatment outcomes
- To establish the structure of artificial nutrition support services (ANS) in the UK
- To identify problems associated with the use/lack of ANS
- To assess standards of care
- To publish an annual report that brings these findings into the public domain
- To review practice against accepted guidelines.
BANS has successfully reported on trends of ANS over the years with anonymised data from nutrition companies helping to validate findings. However, improvements in local electronic recording of nutrition support has made it challenging for clinical services to continue reporting. This has led us to close the eBANS databases for enteral and parenteral nutrition, and embrace new approaches and collaborations. Prevalence surveys and collaborations with other organisations will help with data collection on enteral feeding. We will be looking to help describe current practice, treatment outcomes, regional services and equality of care. BANS data demonstrating inequity of access to home parenteral nutrition (HPN) services in England were instrumental in the development of the Strategic Framework for Intestinal Failure and Home Parenteral Nutrition Services for Adults in England.
BANS is a Standing Committee of BAPEN and is registered with the Data Protection Act through the Charity.
Closure of the eBANS database for enteral nutrition
A difficult but pragmatic decision was made by the BANS committee and BAPEN executive members to close the eBANS database in April 2020. This follows an ongoing decline in submission of eBANS data for enteral nutrition. Feedback from the 2019 eBANS survey of BAPEN membership and dietitians working with home enteral nutrition (HEN) clients indicated that whilst there was significant desire for national HEN data collection there was a real concern around capacity to submit such data to a national database.
The BANS committee is currently working on other routes to collect national HEN data and would welcome your ideas or thoughts on this and please contact us via bapen@bapen.org.uk This work has been somewhat curtailed due to the current COVID-19 pandemic but please be assured we will notify you of further developments as they occur.
Thank you to all who have contributed over the years to enteral nutrition eBANS and to the previous BANS committee members who worked so hard to develop and report on the data.
BANS Reports
The BANS Committee
BANS committee members have different areas of interest and responsibility.
BANS committee members who are responsible for home enteral feeding in adults and children are:
- Emily Walters, BANS Co-Chair (HEF), Research Dietitian
- Nicola Cunningham, Dietitian, PENG
- Julie McClean, Home enteral feeding Dietitian, Scotland
- Karen Darroch, Home enteral feeding Dietitian, Scotland
BANS committee members who are responsible for the Intestinal Failure Registry (Adults) are:
- Sarah-Jane Nelson (Hughes), BANS Co-Chair (PN), Dietitian, Northern Ireland
- Venetia Simchowitz, Pharmacist, BPNG
- Mia Small, Nutrition nurse, NNNG
- Phil Scott-Townsend, Database developer, Wild Pressed Computing/Streets Heaver
- Simon Lal, Gastroenterologist, BAPEN Medical
BANS committee members who are responsible for the Intestinal Failure Registry (Children) are:
- Sarah-Jane Nelson (Hughes), BANS Co-Chair (PN), Dietitian, Northern Ireland
- Rachel Russell, Paediatric nutrition nurse, BSPGHAN
- Anthony Wiskin, Consultant Paediatrician, BSPGHAN
- Phil Scott-Townsend, Database developer, Wild Pressed Computing/Streets Heaver
About the Intestinal Failure Registry
The IF Registry was launched in May 2019 and has received good engagement by reporting centres despite significant challenges experienced with the COVID 19 crisis.
The IF registry data is regularly reviewed by BANS and ongoing modifications to the Registry are made as required. Publication of the first year of data collection was delayed due to COVID 19 and is planned for 2021.
If you are representing an Adult IF / HPN centre which does not report already please register via: https://ifregistry.streetsheaver.thirdparty.nhs.uk/ifreg. Please note that the IF Registry is only available on the HSCN network.
Frequently asked questions about the IF Registry
Who owns the data stored on the IF Registry?
The IF Registry database remains the intellectual property of BAPEN and requests for data extract must be submitted via the Chair Sarah-Jane Nelson (Hughes). These can be submitted via the BAPEN office: bapen@bapen.org.uk.
How secure is the data recorded on the IF Registry?
The data is hosted on a secure HSCN N3 network. You can read more about data privacy here.
When I click on the link it is broken – why is that?
The IF Registry is available here: https://ifregistry.streetsheaver.thirdparty.nhs.uk/ifreg. Please note that the IF Registry is only available on the HSCN network, so you will need to make sure that you are accessing the link from an appropriate computer.
Where can I get extra help with using the IF Registry?
There is a comprehensive how-to guide available on the homepage when you log in to the IF Registry. Please look on the left hand side of the homepage for our user guidelines.
Extra support is available from the Streets Heaver helpdesk: bans@streets-heaver.com or via their Live Chat function which can be found here: https://support.streets-heaver.com. If you would like additional support please contact the BAPEN office: bapen@bapen.org.uk.
Is the IF Registry only for England?
All centres for Intestinal Failure and Home Parenteral Nutrition designated under NHS England commissioned services are mandated to submit via the IF Registry. Northern Ireland, as a commissioned IF service, also reports as a mandatory requirement of healthcare commissioning. As BAPEN is a UK wide organisation we encourage reporting via the IF Registry from Scotland and Wales to continue to inform and benchmark services across the UK.
Is there a paediatric Intestinal Failure Registry?
A dataset for a paediatric version of the Intestinal Failure Register is in development and news will be coming soon, so watch this space!
Trevor Smith, past BANS Committee Chair and current BAPEN President talks about the work of this important multi-disciplinary Committee, the benefits of BANS to healthcare professionals and the work that is underway to ensure BANS is fit for purpose going forward. Hear what he has to say and how you can get involved with BANS.
