Each month, a different member of staff from St George’s Hospital in Tooting will be bringing us a blog post about what they do.

This month, we have Gemma Stott, Consultant Dietitian, telling us all about Nutrition and Hydration Week, the work that the Trust does for their staff and patients, as well as what you can do at home!

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Hi, I’m Gemma. I’ve worked at St George’s Hospital for four years I work with staff to ensure standards for Nutrition and Hydration are upheld for patients, to help reduce the risk of malnutrition which is common in hospital for many reasons.

Each year, we promote the national Nutrition and Hydration Week campaign. It’s a week of raising awareness for patients, staff and our local community about what we do and why we do it.

The campaign aims to remind everyone about the importance of nutrition and hydration to promote recovery from illness and for health and wellbeing.

The awareness week takes place 12 to 18 March and we’ve organised a range of activities to mark the week including awareness stands, Come Dine With Me tasting events and initiatives carried out on wards with patients.

I plan the week’s activities with my colleagues Jenni Doman, Assistant Director of Facilities, and Paul Courtman, Head of Nursing for Quality and Patient Experience – there’s also lots of involvement from many teams and individuals across the Trust.

We’re all passionate about the importance of good nutrition and hydration – for both our patients and our staff – and that means something different for every individual.

Patients who are well-nourished and well-hydrated recover quicker, have fewer complications and are under our care for a shorter time. 

While patients often require increased calories to promote recovery, staff and visitors can be affected by 'over nutrition' which can lead to obesity. Over half of the food provided in NHS hospitals is served to staff and visitors, and their needs are very different to those of patients.

As I’ve mentioned, good nutrition and hydration means something different for everyone, but it’s worth taking a look at your own diet to see if there are any quick wins that you could improve upon. For example:

• Do you drink enough water? You should be drinking roughly eight glasses of water a day.
• How often do you drink alcohol? It’s advised that men and women should not drink more than 14 units per week, which is equivalent to six pints of average-strength beer.
• Do you eat plenty of fruit and vegetables? You should aim for at least five portions per day (two portions of fruit and three portions of vegetables).
• Do you consume enough calcium? Calcium is needed to protect our bones and teeth – and we should have two – three portions per day. One portion is equivalent to a yoghurt or a third of a pint of milk.

Did you know…?

• A can of cola (330ml) contains seven cubes of sugar (280kcal).
• A portion of chip shop chips (400g) contains 50g of fat and 1000kcal.
• Tinned and frozen fruit and vegetables are just as good as fresh – so long as you don’t blend them as some of the vitamins are destroyed in the blending process.
• Eating two portions of oily fish – such as salmon, mackerel, sardines or trout – per week can help to prevent the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
• Beans and pulses are an excellent source of protein and fibre – they help to lower cholesterol and help to reduce the risk of bowel cancer.

Follow @StGeorgesTrust on Twitter to find out more about #NHWeek2018 and how St George’s is raising awareness. You can also tweet @StGeorgesTrust about how you’re getting involved or share what you’ve learned!

Want to hear from a particular service or department at St George’s in next month’s blog post – let us know! Email communications@stgeorges.nhs.uk with your suggestions with the email title “Tooting Daily PRSS blog”.