Changing the culture around hospital-based nutrition

Following a serious incident and inquest after the death of a patient due to choking at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Trust put in place an action plan and implemented strategies to reduce the risk of recurrence. Four key actions were identified as essential to try to reduce the risk of a similar event: introduction of a standard operating procedure for mealtimes that included a pre-meal safety 'pause'; use of an electronic communication icon to indicate modified diet/fluid requirements, from emergency department and onward as a patient is transferred; job-specific mealtime safety training; and use of bedside posters with specific dietary requirements (in line with the International Dysphagia Diet Standards Initiative Framework). A new role of Lead Educator for Nutrition was introduced to support the changes and provide training. Changes were also made to the incident reporting system to ensure easy identification of events relating to dysphagia, so that these could be monitored, themes identified and lessons shared. A series of audits following the changes have shown that more staff across disciplines and teams have accessed training on nutrition and hydration practices, wards have increased the use of the icon and posters, and successfully implemented pre-meal safety pauses. The Lead Educator for Nutrition has helped embed learning, and increased awareness and knowledge about nutrition and hydration.