P679 - EMBEDDING NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT IN A COMMUNITY BASED FRAILTY WARD: IMPROVING ADHERENCE TO BEST PRACTICE

P679

EMBEDDING NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT IN A COMMUNITY BASED FRAILTY WARD: IMPROVING ADHERENCE TO BEST PRACTICE

A. Kumaravelu¹, H. Bennett¹, S. Suman^1,*

¹Geriatrics, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Medway (Kent), United Kingdom

Rationale: Older adults need an initial nutritional assessment followed by weekly reassessments if remaining as inpatient. This study analysed compliance with this strategy and to explored embedding nutritional assessments in practice.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of nutritional assessments was conducted over 2 cycles in March 2023 and August 2024, in an acute frailty ward in a community hospital. Nutritional assessments used the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) score within 24 hours of admission, with weekly as per NICE CG 32.

Results: 1^st Cycle: 16/40 (34%) of patients assessed with MUST score within 24 hours of admission, 2/29 (7%) were compliant with weekly reassessments.

Interventions: 1. Four bespoke educational modules delivered to the multidisciplinary team focussed on accurate MUST scoring, 2. To improve compliance, a pragmatic shift in practice adopted from complex, difficult to follow individualised weekly reassessments to a standardised fixed-day reassessment (every Sunday) for all inpatients at any given time 3. MUST score for inpatient was incorporated into the daily Multidisciplinary Handover Sheet used for morning ward rounds.

2nd cycle following intervention: Significant improvement in clinical practice noted, weight loss observed in both high- risk group (MUST Score ≥2) as well as low risk group (MUST Score <2).

16/20 (78%) of patients assessed using MUST within 24 hours of admission,19/20 (95%) were compliant with weekly reassessments. 

Conclusion: 1.Focussed educational modules, MUST score inclusion on ward handover sheet and discussion during daily ward rounds increased awareness

2.A standardised, fixed-day for nutritional reassessments improves compliance

Disclosure of Interest: None declared