No place for malnutrition

There is no place for malnutrition among older people in modern society, delegates were told at the National Association of Care Catering (NACC) annual forum in Blackpool. And the best way to reduce the chances of it happening is for the industry to push itself into the centre of the discussion about UK care provision in the future. Outgoing NACC chairman Derek Johnson said: "Who will be purchasing care services in the future? We will see them increasingly being commissioned by the new GP consortia, so when these are being set up in your area make sure you get in there and make your case. "Make nutritional assessment of everyone at risk a priority, not just those in residential care. And make sure all staff members who need to see reminders of this, do so. "In short, as care caterers we need to be more visible and to put our businesses at the centre of care service provision." The 180 delegates attending the forum heard that the NACC will continue to publicise its 'No One Should Go Hungry' campaign to raise awareness of malnutrition in the care sector. The campaign proposes a single, up-to-date Nutrition Standard that gives definitive guidance to those providing community meals services to ensure the elderly have consistent access to food with the right nutritional content. The NACC is petitioning the government to support the Nutrition Standard to help lower the risk of malnutrition among older people, a need it believes is to prevent the issue being compounded by factors such as council budget cuts and the ageing population. The two-day forum programme offered delegates speaker presentations on the future of social care provision, promoting good nutrition and exploring access to funding for training as well as a series of workshops addressing issues such as public policy and care catering, implementing CQC's Outcome 5, food safety and identifying and dealing with swallowing difficulties. A workshop run by the NACC's Sue Hawkins and Ros Speight guided members through the association's work to provide guidelines for operators to help them understand the Care Quality Commission inspection tool that will be used to assess Outcome 5 and offer practical ways to ensure expectations are met. Due to be launched in November and called 'Evidencing Outcome 5: Meeting Nutritional Needs', the guidance is being produced with the English Community Care Association. Hawkins said: "It's simple, our job is to offer enjoyable meals. If we're doing that then we meet the criteria of the outcome which is 'person-centred, dignified, enjoyable meals that meet nutritional needs'." She said the guidelines had an Action Plan that guided caterers through what they needed to do when a new resident came in, including nutritional screening, asking questions and observation. "Once you've done it, of course, you need to act on it, identify any risks, record behaviour and eating through the day. If they're eating three quarters of the food you're offering then they're OK and you don't need to do anything." The implementation guidelines are benefiting directly from another workshop at the forum titled 'Difficulties with communication and swallowing – what can you do?', thanks to the advice and input from speech and language therapists Linda House and Sarah Nickson. There was also an on-site exhibition that ran alongside the forum and gave delegates a look at what is available in the marketplace and provided a valuable, two-way networking opportunity between operators and suppliers to the sector. Derek Johnson said: "The 2011 NACC National Training & Development Forum was a resounding success. The objectives we set out to achieve were met and in many cases surpassed, setting us in good stead to continue to improve standards in the provision of catering in the care sector. "The strong support for the No One Should Go Hungry campaign was overwhelming and boosted the campaign's momentum. And it was felt that the calibre of the workshops and presentations was first