Comittee Group Updates Education and Training


DR SHELDON COOPER Chair – BAPEN Education and Training Committee


The position of chair of BAPEN Education and Training Committee is now under new management! I am Dr Sheldon Cooper, a consultant gastroenterologist with an interest in intestinal failure, home parenteral nutrition and clinical nutrition, based at the Dudley Group of Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in the West Midlands. There are a few changes underway, but first, I wish to take the opportunity to thank Ruth for her time at the helm over the last few years.


There are quite a few changes to the structure of the committee, with the inclusion of surgical expertise, and many other new faces. This will enable the Education and Training Committee to tackle the new challenges that are afoot. The Education and Training Committee will continue to be very active within BAPEN, endorsing meetings and symposia organised by other bodies, but encompassing the aims and values of BAPEN in


spreading the message of excellence in the field of nutrition, and also organising symposia of our own within BAPEN annual meetings. Excitingly, we are due to have a postgraduate style day at the combined DDF meeting in June 2012. The new direction for the committee is the development of guidelines for all things nutritional. The dynamic committee will be calling on many of you to help with drawing up the official BAPEN


Nutrition Guidelines, which are designed to be all encompassing as well as easy to use and of excellent quality, without being impractically over detailed. I hope we can call on many of you to help share your expertise, and promote excellence in nutritional care by provision of these new guidelines! It will be a busy time for the Education and Training Committee in the next few years.


Malnutrition Action Group (MAG) / Nutrition Screening Week (NSW)


MARINOS ELIA, Chair – MAG and CHRISTINE RUSSELL, Chair – NSW Since the Malnutrition Action Group and Nutrition Screening Week (NSW group have continued to work closely together the following is a joint update.


E-Learning modules


A number of Trusts have asked us if the ‘MUST’ e- learning modules link into the National Learning Management System (NLMS) or their local Learning Management Systems (LMSs). Currently the modules include an optional stand alone management system which does not link directly to systems used by NHS Trusts. However, we are pleased to report that we are working with Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to develop a SCORM compliant version of the hospital module that will link into these core learning systems. SCORM stands for ‘Sharable Content Object Reference Model’ and is a set of technical standards for e-learning software products which enable software to communicate to LMSs. We will keep you updated on developments and availability. To support the implementation of the QIPP Safety Express Programme, the Department of Health has chosen to make the BAPEN e-learning modules available to organisations that have signed up to phase 1 of the initiative, with plans to move towards phase 2 which is expected to involve several hundred centres. This is fantastic news and represents a considerable income for BAPEN. If you are interested in purchasing the e-learning modules for your Trust, check first to see if you have signed up to the QIPP Safety Express Programme as you may be able to obtain it courtesy of the DoH.


E-‘MUST’


Electronic versions of ‘MUST’ have been used in research for several years e.g. at Southampton University Hospitals Trust. Electronic calculations of BMI and weight loss can avoid the need to use


charts. They can also avoid potential errors associated with certain results, especially those close to cut-off points. The BAPEN website (www.bapen.org.uk) now also has an electronic version of ‘MUST’ which includes imperial to SI unit conversions, and an ulna length-height conversion. Once the raw measurements are obtained BMI, percent weight loss and a ‘MUST’ score and category can be displayed within seconds. However, the calculator on the website is primarily intended to illustrate that the principles underpinning ‘MUST’ are simple. For routine use, the Malnutrition Action Group has been exploring and developing a variety of different aids, such as new BMI and weight loss charts, with extended ranges, and electronic aids. For example, over the last few months a programme has been developed so ‘MUST’ can be uploaded onto i-phones (an Apple ‘app’). It is expected that the BAPEN ‘MUST’ App will be available within the next few weeks.


Review of ‘MUST’


MAG has reviewed and updated ‘MUST’ in minor ways to ensure that it is used as originally intended. Therefore, we have updated the e-guidelines for primary care (www.eGuidlines.co.uk) and the ‘MUST’ Explanatory booklet, which can be found on the BAPEN website. These are consistent with each other and with the i-phone app.


Current opinions and publications


Some papers concerning nutritional screening using ‘MUST’ have been published, following presentations at the 2009 BAPEN annual conference in Cardiff . Amongst these are:


1. Russell CA, Elia M. Malnutrition in the UK: where does it begin? Proc Nutr Soc 2010; 69: 465-9.


2. Elia M, Russell CA, Stratton RJ. Malnutrition in the UK: Policies to address the problem. Proc Nutr Soc 2010; 69: 470-6.


One of the key findings of the last NSW survey is that ‘MUST’ was the most widely used tool both in hospitals and in care homes, which means that it can be used to facilitate continuity of care from one setting to another using the same criteria. This was one of the visions of the original MAG committee. We are, therefore, pleased with the current status that ‘MUST’ has achieved. It is hoped that some of the results from NSW2010 will be presented at this year’s ESPEN meeting in Sweden.


Nutrition Screening Week


The full report from last year’s Nutrition Screening Week (NSW10) was published in March of this year and the PDF is available to view and download via the BAPEN website. Alternatively a hard copy can be purchased from the BAPEN Office. Individual local results have been sent out to all participating centres in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (ROI). The 4th and final Nutrition Screening Week


(NSW11) took place from 5-7th April completing the four seasons of the year. 254 hospitals, 142 care homes and 46 mental health units in the UK and a further 36 hospitals, 7 care homes and 2 mental health units in ROI registered to take part. We were particularly pleased with the significant increase in mental health units that signed up this year as numbers have been disappointingly low in previous surveys. Preliminary results from NSW11 will be presented at the BAPEN conference in Harrogate on 29th-30th November 2011.


BAPEN In Touch No.61 May 2011 10


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