Dietitians Week highlights growing work in hospitals and community care, writes team lead at Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group

Dietitians Week is a chance to reflect on the impact our work has in Lincolnshire, writes Rachel Thompson, lead dietitian for Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group.

Every year, Dietitians Week is held during the first week of June, making it a great opportunity to highlight our service and the fantastic contribution our dietitians make across Lincolnshire.

To give you some background, dietitians are qualified and regulated health professionals who assess, diagnose and treat dietary and nutritional problems at both individual and public health levels.

They interpret the science of nutrition to improve health and treat diseases and conditions by educating and giving practical, personalised advice to clients, patients, carers and colleagues.

Additionally, dietitians plan and implement public health programmes to promote health and prevent nutrition-related diseases.

This year, the theme of Dietitians Week is The Future of Dietetics. Dietitians play an increasing role in sustainability. The British Dietetic Association’s campaign One Blue Dot outlines how dietitians are supporting people to understand how to eat a well-balanced, sustainable and varied diet, while balancing environmental and nutritional science.

You can find out more about this campaign on the British Dietetic Association’s website: https://www.bda.uk.com/

To support this campaign, we are working with our hospital catering service to manage food wastage, which includes reviewing our hospital menus and our suppliers.

In Lincolnshire, the Nutrition and Dietetics Service is provided by LCHG, which is made up of two organisations: Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT).

The service provides effective nutritional education for patients and staff, and is made up of registered dietitians, dietetic support workers and dietetic degree apprentices. The team offers services across a range of specialities, including:

- Nutrition support and enteral feeding – The team assists patients requiring tube feeding, including a dedicated Home Enteral Nutrition team.

- Critical care – The service supports patients during their admission to critical care units across Lincolnshire’s hospitals.

- Oncology – The service provides support to patients who are diagnosed with cancer and have altered nutritional intake as a result of their illness or its treatment.

- Chronic health conditions – The team helps manage nutrition for individuals with diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and renal disease.

- Paediatric nutrition – The service supports children with dietary needs, including those requiring enteral (tube) nutrition support at home.

I hope this has given you a flavour of the work of our dietitians. For further information about dietetics, please visit the ULHT website: https://www.ulh.nhs.uk/