Malnutrition Pathway Primary Care Network Portal
PCN RESOURCES HOME PAGE RESOURCES A-Z RETURN TO MAIN SITECommunity Pharmacists are responsible for dispensing prescriptions and providing over-the counter medicines to help people maintain and improve their lives. They are also responsible for monitoring the quality, safety and use of medicines and for providing advice and information about the use of medicines.
Community Pharmacists have regular contact with patients who could be at risk of malnutrition, such as the older person and those with long term conditions. They can play a significant role in identifying these patients providing advice about over the counter nutritional drinks and Oral Nutritional Supplements (ONS) and supporting those who need onward referral.
Recognising the signs of malnutrition can assist Community Pharmacists to provide a more holistic view of the patient’s health needs and contribute to better outcomes. Actions for consideration include:
A fact sheet focusing on initiating conversations regarding diet is available HERE
Patients at risk of malnutrition should be given advice on optimising food intake, encouraged to increase the frequency of eating and drinking nourishing drinks and advised on food. It is important that patients understand the importance of adopting such dietary advice particularly if they have historically followed healthy eating plans. Some discussion regarding following a more calorific diet may need to be had: the leaflet YOUR GUIDE TO MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FOOD includes advice on food fortification, can support conversations and provides simple ideas on how patients can get the most nutrition from the food
Those who cannot achieve an adequate nutritional intake through these first line ideas should be referred to the GP/Practice Pharmacist/Dietitian for further assessment which may include consideration for an ONS ON PRESCRIPTION The Community Pharmacy team can discuss these issues with patients and suggest revisions to prescriptions if the product prescribed is not suitable.
A tip sheet for Pharmacists, outlining how they might incorporate malnutrition screening and treatment into their everyday activities particularly for groups at high risk, is available HERE
Online training
Consider online training tools, such as the BAPEN VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Full guidance document
A full copy of the Managing Malnutrition in the Community guidance can be found HERE