Nursing times
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Current government health policy calls for increased collaboration between acute and primary care, and between the NHS and the independent sector. This article describes an initiative in which an NHS trust contracted an independent company to provide home chemotherapy for patients with cancer of the colon. ⋯ It has also been found to reduce the side-effects of treatment. This article includes a case study on a patient receiving home chemotherapy which illustrates some of the benefits of the service for patients.
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Despite the fact that up to 40% of hospital patients may be malnourished, many nutritional referrals are inconsistent or inappropriate. Recent research has raised awareness of nutrition, but wide variations remain in the assessment and referral procedures used by hospital trusts. The final best practice statement in our series emerged from the responses of nursing and dietetic staff across Scotland. The statement focuses on five aspects of nutritional care: admission to hospital; nursing management of nutritional care; nutritional screening and documentation; criteria for nutritional referrals, and education and training.