Professor Marinos Elia, chair of the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN) told a conference this morning that the importance of nutrition is finally being recognised in the National Health Service.
She told delegates: “Nutrition has reached its ‘tipping point’ in 2008. At long last, the importance of nutritional care and treatment has been acknowledged as vital to delivering safe quality patient care throughout the NHS and all other health and care organisations.”
Nutrition has been included in the 18 new Registration Regulations to be imposed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on NHS organizations, as well as all health and care providers across hospital, care and community settings.
The 18 new Registration Regulations have been put in place to deliver “essential levels of safety and quality” for all individuals. Nutrition screening and training are expected to feature strongly in the criteria for nutrition.
BAPEN has also made progress on nutrition screening in the context of the Department of Health’s (DH) Nutrition Action Plan, and released the preliminary results from its Nutrition Screening Week 2008.
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