In Derbyshire, the North Derbyshire Nutrition Support Project reviews all general practice ONS prescriptions issued via Dietetic audit and assessment. As part of this work, it has been identified that there have been issues around excessive oral nutrition supplement usage in care homes in place of fully fortified diet. Gaps have also been identified in terms of the resources, information sources and nutritional screening used by Derbyshire care homes.
A comprehensive Nutrition and Hydration resource pack has been developed to include the care expectations around nutritional screening, hints and tips around hydration (to minimise UTIs and AKI), diet in certain medical conditions (Coeliac and Diabetes to aid compliance and reduce costs around poor compliance), dysphagia, vegetarian and vegan diets (to ensure inclusion and diversity for all residents in care homes) including vitamin D optimisation (encouraging self-care agenda) as well as malnutrition and thorough food fortification (to minimise non-essential ONS prescription and self-care). By having all of the essential information in one resource, it reduces the chance for care home using inappropriate guidance.
Additionally a Nutrition and Hydration Care Home Award has been developed and launched to support uptake and use of the Care Home Pack.
