Undernutrition Service Helping nutrition and dietetic services meet

Undernutrition Service Helping nutrition and dietetic services meet the changing needs of the NHS Catherine Mc. Shane Project Manager Dietitian Sarah Gooch Dietetic Assistant

Why Undernutrition? ü Patients nutritional needs identified and addressed quickly. ü Identifies safety concerns quickly. ü Promotes self-management.

How Undernutrition works

Traditional ü Initial assessment within 2 weeks ü Initial assessment within 3 months ü Remote monitoring weekly ü No monitoring ü Reviewed when a need is identified ü Reviewed when the service dictates ü Average intervention 14 weeks ü Average intervention 40 weeks

Traditional Assessed within 2 weeks Prescription error highlighted in a week Patient A Now low risk of undernutrition Still waiting to be assessed Prescription error not highlighted Continues to lose weight

Traditional Assessed within 2 weeks Weight loss highlighted within 3 weeks Treatment increased Still waiting to be assessed Patient B Weight loss continues Secondary complications

benefits ü Reduced delayed treatment ü Improved case load management ü Links with electronic records ü Improved accuracy of ‘MUST’ ü Improved joined up working ü Reduced complications ü Releases clinician capacity ü Drives nutritional care

Care home feedback ü Simple and easy to use. It only takes 2 minutes but is invaluable. ü Extra support network, knowing someone else is looking at the information. ü Increased shared responsibility. Staff know that if there any problems a dietitian will call. ü Driven improved nutritional care. ü More person centred. ü Reassuring that someone is responding within hours. ü Want it to be used proactively. ü Is there a possibility for other functions?

Clinician feedback ü Simple and easy to use. ü Able to be more proactive. ü Increased confidence in stopping ONS. ü Supports caseload management. ü Quickly identifies ineffective treatments. ü Quickly identifies any errors in prescribing. “The automated system offers great support to the dietitians and empowers the care home staff to take a more proactive approach to monitoring their increasing number of vulnerable residents. The residents and their families feel more supported too because the frequency of monitoring has been increased along with more timely reviews. To stop the service would be a backward step. We couldn’t go back to what we did before. ”

Outcomes ü Demonstrated that Health Call Undernutrition can improve dietetic care in other organisations. ü Driven the use of technology in care homes. ü Identified other areas that Health Call can be implemented. ü Data provided is raising questions to research and improve patient safety further. ü Commissioners and providers see evidence that excellent nutritional care is being delivered.

Conclusions ü Simple solution to improve dietetic care to patients. ü Reduces delays in dietetic treatment. ü Can be scaled up and easily implemented in other organisations.

Thank You www. nhshealthcall. co. uk cdda-tr. businessdevelopment@nhs. net