Nutrition and hydration strategy 2023-2026
Our nutrition and hydration strategy sets out our responsibility to shape the future of our nutrition and hydration provision across the organisation for our patients, staff and visitors. We work together with clinical, catering and retail teams to make sure we are meeting our nutrition and hydration objectives without compromising on sustainability principles.
Our priorities
The strategy sets out 5 main priorities:
- meet and maintain hospital food and catering standards supporting our patients, staff, the local community and the environment
- develop menus that meet the diverse needs of our patients and staff providing essential nutrients to maintain health and prevent nutrition-related health problems
- provide safe, high quality care related to enteral and parenteral feeding
- make food and fluids accessible and affordable with healthy options available to staff and visitors and provide advice and education on good nutrition and hydration
- to make sure staff and volunteers receive regular, high quality training in nutritional and hydration care and patient support
We aim to meet the above priorities by focusing on 4 key areas.
- Provide patients with high quality, ethically sourced food that meets their nutritional needs requirements and the catering standards outlined in the National Standards for Health Care Food and Drink (2022).
- Continue to review our menus to improve nutrition and hydration care, increased choice and flexibility and meet the needs of the culturally diverse population that our hospitals serve.
- Work to make sure food safety standards are aligned across all hospital sites.
- Upholding the Trust’s Sustainability Strategy pledge to reduce the use of single use plastics and reduce food waste by a third by 2031.
- Develop guidance around best practice for nutritional screening.
- Support inpatient areas to increase nutrition screening rates for both adult and children patients, and review the opportunity for nutritional screening in the outpatient setting.
- Increase the oversight and governance for the performance of each ward area in food and drink provision, patient safety and experience.
- Improve hydration identification, recording and management of risk in acutely unwell or nil by mouth patients.
- Improve the management of patients with swallowing difficulties, with a focus on early assessment, prevent unnecessary or inappropriate interventions and admissions where possible.
- Embed swallow screening at the Royal Brompton and Harefield sites.
- To provide safe and appropriate access to specialist nutrition resources across all hospital sites.
- Continue working together to review our menus and services to improve nutrition and hydration care.
- Improve communication on patients with nutritional needs and swallowing difficulties from the acute to community setting.
- Support and improve nutritional care provided in care homes.
- To provide an affordable range of healthy meals to cater for a variety of diverse dietary, lifestyle and cultural requirements.
- To work towards retail catering options across all hospital sites to be of the same quality and accessibility.
- To provide a free, accessible service for our workforce to support, promote and encourage healthy food and lifestyle choices by working in close partnership with the Showing We Care About You team.
- Raise awareness and knowledge amongst the catering and food service workforce to make sure they have the skills and competencies needed to meet the nutritional and hydration needs of the population.
- Make sure all clinical staff are provided with appropriate training on food provision, safety and how to support and manage patients nutrition and hydration.
Contact us
For more information about our nutrition and hydration strategy, email gst-tr.adultdietitians@nhs.net.
Last updated: August 2023