THE ROLE OF ORAL NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ADULT MALNUTRITION
Improving Oral Nutritional Supplements for the Management of Adult Malnutrition Dr Charles Easmon, Editor
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HE NATIONAL Health Service (NHS) has budgetary constraints, which you as General Practitioners (GPs), Dietitians, and Medicines Management see every day. If there was a professionally sanctioned way to save money for the NHS whist benefiting your patients and the wider community, you would take it. If the required action meant that a significant number of your patients had better health outcomes, reduced hospital stays and less hospital readmissions, depending on your temperament, you would either jump for joy or at least allow yourself a satisfied smile. Fortunately, such an option exists in regards to the management of malnutrition, which is a major problem for the NHS, your practice and your patients. Malnutrition is a significant contributor to illness, hospitals stays and readmissions. Successful treatment of malnutrition is the solution. However, as with many of your drug remedies, there is a known compliance problem with many malnutrition treatments or remedies. This poor compliance issue has some logical basis. Put yourself in the shoes of your patient. If you were offered a tasteless or bland liquid or the equivalent of ‘cardboard chicken’ as the solution to your nutrition needs, no amount of exhortation would get you to drink or eat more than a certain amount no matter how much you were told by enthusiastic medical staff that is was ‘good for you’. In fact, the very prospect of this tasteless or poor tasting therapeutic regime would be likely to adversely affect your mental health in a way that might further reduce your appetite to eat and drink.
The Creation of a Better Product for Malnutrition Dietitian Paul Gough1 for years had seen the lack of enthusiasm of his patients for the existing nutrition supplements first hand. Many patients felt their prescribed supplements were difficult
to finish as the taste wasn’t good, so it meant that compliance was low and wastage was high. Coupled with the high price companies were charging the NHS for community oral nutrition, it didn’t represent good value for money at all. Paul set off with a simple goal to produce a better tasting product at less cost to the NHS. The ‘desirable but less expensive’ mantra was behind the foundation of Nualtra. The currently available Nualtra range of supplements and desserts is the product of many years of research, taste trials, safety and consumer testing before the Nualtra product range launched in 2012. Published clinical studies have shown Nualtra’s range of supplements: •A chieve compliance rates up to 96% one of the highest rates in the industry •P erform better than competitor products for flavour •P erform better than the competitor products for texture •P erform better than the competitor products for odour Once Paul and his Nualtra team felt that the taste frontier (which includes gluten free/lactose free hazel chocolate, banana, vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate orange) had been conquered, he and his team realised that the battle was not over. How could costs be driven down and maintained as affordable to Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and NHS Trusts? This was achieved by strict control of ingredients and manufacturing costs. Since Nualtra has been introduced (2012), it has already saved the NHS more than £8 million and its presence in the market has led to the competition reducing their own prices. As a CCG or an NHS organisation, you can access the Nualtra Saver (www.nualtrasaver. com) to estimate how much you could save financially by making simple switches with your Oral Nutritional Supplement products.
In addition to direct product savings, Nualtra also works closely with NHS organisations to deliver added value support services to help them achieve their own goals and objectives
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