Nutrition Experts at EPUT Win Award

The Food First team at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) won the PrescQIPP Awards in the category of Service Redesign for their unique and collaborative approach to addressing malnutrition in older people in care homes.

The judges were impressed with the way the team successfully transferred their approach to treating malnutrition in older people from Luton and Bedfordshire to Hertfordshire Valleys care homes.

The Food First team works in partnership with care home staff to improve the identification of malnutrition, tackle the inappropriate use of sip feeds (oral nutritional supplements) and educate and empower them to use real food instead of Sip feeds which are commonly used to manage residents with malnutrition. The team believes that real food should be used as the first approach to managing malnutrition in older adults.

In 2013-14, Hertfordshire Valleys CCG’s (HVCCG) - with a population of 600,000 - had a total spend for all sip feeds in excess of £1.4million and the overuse of sip feeds in care homes was of concern. GPs reported numerous requests for sip feeds from care homes, lack of dietetic support to enable residents to transition onto real food and inconsistent implementation of local prescribing guidelines.

Malnutrition has an estimated annual cost of £19.6 billion for health and social care in England (2011-12), with 52% of this expenditure spent on older adults (over 65 years) (Elia, 2015). Malnutrition also increases the risk of hospital admissions, long hospital stays, falls and pressure ulcers (Elia, 2015).

Within a year, the Food First team reduced overall prescribing of sip feeds in care homes by 41%, and saved £4 for every £1 invested. The Food First approach uses a training, audit and certification scheme to change knowledge, behaviour and culture, alongside patient reviews. Outcomes from 154 reviews showed 86% of sip feeds were stopped or reduced and, six months later, 74% of patients had gained or maintained weight.

The judges were also impressed with the amount of information that the team presented and the improved experience of older people who used the Food First service.

The PrescQIPP Annual Innovation Awards is aimed at commissioners and it provided an opportunity to network and celebrate the very best of community services.

More than 200 people attended the awards ceremony at the Marriot Hotel in Leicester on the 17^th October 2017.

PrescQipp is a community interest company that operates for the benefit of NHS patients, organisations and commissioners.