31 May 2019
The Trust that runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals is raising awareness of the invaluable work carried out by its Dietetics team throughout next week as it celebrates Dietitians Week.
Dietitians at The Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospital Trust (SaTH), which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford (PRH) assess, diagnose and treat dietary and nutritional problems at an individual and wider public-health level. They work to tackle some of the biggest health issues facing the nation, from obesity and diabetes to frailty, renal and cancer.
To give an insight into the diversity, challenges and rewards of the role, Katie McLaughlin, Clinical Lead Dietitian, Macmillan Integrated Therapy Service at SaTH has written a blog about her typical working week at SaTH, which can be read here
The Dietetics Team will be offering education on the work they carry out across the Trust and beyond throughout next week. Nutrition Support Lead Dietitian, Tina Cheung, explains: “As well as promoting the role of Dietitians across the Trust, next week we will be educating colleagues, patients and visitors about MUST and Think Food, initiatives that are being rolled out across our wards.”
“MUST is a 5-step screening tool to identify if an individual is malnourished, at risk of malnutrition. It also includes management guidelines which can be used to develop a care plan. A ‘Think Food’ approach means using ordinary foods and drinks to increase your nutritional intake.
“From Monday-Wednesday 2pm-4pm and on Thursday from 10am-12pm we will visiting all wards during trolley rounds and asking people to take part in a malnutrition quiz where they will have the chance to win a prize hamper.
“On Monday we will also be running stalls outside the canteens at RSH and PRH from 11:30am-1.30pm to begin a conversation about nutrition with a wider audience.
“Around 3 million people in the UK are at risk of malnutrition, so as well as raising awareness of the risk, the team want to promote the good practices that can help to prevent it. Nutrition should be everyone’s business.”