We are celebrating an important birthday in the UK this week. The National Health Service (NHS) is 70 years old. That’s 70 years of universal healthcare, free at the point of access, across the entire UK.
Here at Nestlé we are proud of the NHS, especially the hardworking people that keep it running 24/7 365 days a year. We are pleased to be able to support the NHS in its mission to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation. We do this in a number of different ways; from providing free impartial and expert advice to medical professionals, to releasing innovative products that improve and enhance quality of life, to making sure the busy cooks in hospital kitchen have access to affordable quality ingredients so they can serve nutritious and tasty meals.
Here are 5 ways Nestlé is working with the NHS to enhance and improve quality of life in the UK today.
- Our Nestlé Health Science network of expert trainers provide continuous support to care homes and hospitals across the country to ensure the safe preparation of ‘Resource ThickenUP Clear’, our innovative thickening agent. It’s designed to rapidly thicken liquids, oral nutritional supplements and food for patients with dysphagia or swallowing difficulties. Patients who have had a stroke, have dementia, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, neurological disorders caused by injury or disease and malignancies of the oral cavity and throat might have swallowing difficulties.
- Feeding the NHS – support and knowhow from Nestlé Professional. Our out of home business works together with NHS catering teams up and down the UK. They provide support in food nutrition and offer innovative and tasty menu ideas for both patients and NHS staff. Pictured – Mandy Cartmill, Head of Catering, Leighton Hospital part of Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – discovering our new Nescafé Azera Nitro coffee – a CQUIN compliant solution for their coffee/bistro style shops.
- Helping overweight patients prepare for surgery – ‘Optifast’ by Nestlé Health Science, a nutritionally complete, low-calorie total dietary replacement product was developed specifically for medically supervised weight loss. It’s used across the NHS to successfully support bariatric surgery patients before their surgery.
- The ‘Peptamen’ family of products, from Nestlé Health Science, and under medical supervision, offer NHS patients complete nutritional support and improved feeding tolerance for the dietary management of patients with compromised or impaired gastrointestinal tract (GI) function.
- Breastfeeding is best for babies, even when diagnosed with Cow’s Milk Allergy (CMA). We help to support babies and young children with CMA – our specialist nutrition team offers online support and advice for families and healthcare professionals to help support earlier and accurate diagnosis.
ENDS