BAPEN, the national charity committed to combating malnutrition, welcomes the support of Paul Burstow, MP, for its new Toolkit to support the implementation of better nutritional care across health and social care.
In a statement issued on Monday, 24 May, Paul Burstow MP, Minister of State for Care Services and Lead for Older People and Care Services, responding to the launch of the BAPEN Toolkit for Commissioners and Providers in England: Malnutrition Matters: Meeting Quality Standards in Nutritional Care said:
“Good nutrition and hydration are vital to help people maintain good health, recover from illness and get back on their feet. Yet too often, poor practice and lack of attention to the basics, like assistance with eating, means older people in our care homes and hospitals are not getting the food and drink they need.
I welcome the leadership shown by BAPEN and the many other respected organisations that collaborated in developing this resource and I hope that care providers and commissioners will use it locally to make sure older people receive the nutritional care they are entitled to.”
Dr Mike Stroud, Chair of BAPEN welcomed the Minister’s statement:
“We are delighted the new Minister and his team are supporting BAPEN’s call for implementation of better nutritional care practice and policies. Malnutrition really does matter. No NHS or social care organisation can claim it is delivering safe, effective, quality care without appropriate nutritional care policies in place.
Organisations that deliver good nutritional care will see improvements in clinical outcomes and patient and resident experience whilst at the same time achieving significant reductions in costs – to the benefit of all.”
BAPEN’s Nutritional Care Toolkit is designed to support the adoption of focused policies, multidisciplinary teams, clinical leadership, educational initiatives and new management approaches.
Paul Burstow’s office has confirmed that the DH Social Care Policy Team will promote the Toolkit via the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), e-bulletins to members of the DH Care Networks, explore putting reference to this in communications within the NHS and social care sectors including the Chief Nursing Officer and Social Care bulletins, and share this resource with organisations that represent care providers, patients, service users and carers.
BAPEN’s Nutritional Care Commissioning Toolkit can be freely downloaded as a PDF from the charity’s website here.
Notes to Editors
- BAPEN, the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, is the multi-professional association and registered charity, committed to addressing malnutrition & to improving nutritional care and treatment in hospital, care & community. BAPEN is Registered Charity No. 1186719 www.bapen.org.uk
- BAPEN’s 2010 Malnutrition Matters Conference is being held 2-3 November in Harrogate. Abstract submission deadline 2 July 2010. Early Bird delegate rates close 30 July 2010.
- The BAPEN Practical Toolkit contains guidance on defining outcomes to achieve value for money, a summary of national standards and recommendations, and seven tools to help assess local need, current provision, define pathways, education and training provision and develop service specifications, operational frameworks, quality indicators, monitoring and review processes.
- BAPEN’s Malnutrition Matters Commissioning Toolkit is endorsed and supported by BAPEN Council and the charity’s core groups (PENG, NNNG, BPNG, BAPEN Medical, Nutrition Society and PINNT the patient organisation) and the following organisations – RCP, Age UK, RCN, BDA, NPSA, BSPGHAN, NHS County Durham & Darlington, and the Patient Safety Federation.
