Why is it important?
Patients with IBD who are admitted to hospital need appropriate multidisciplinary support to ensure optimal outcomes. This should include routine documentation of nutritional intake, weight measurement and onward dietetic review. Malnutrition is common for people with IBD – and this has a significant effect on their recovery from a flare or surgery. So it’s important that care plans identify nutrition as a key element of day-to-day care.
IBD can have a serious psychological impact, especially during a time of critical illness or when facing life-changing surgery. That’s why it’s so important to consider mental health and provide support to IBD patients if necessary. In the 2023 IBD Service Self-Assessment survey, the majority of services agreed that they assessed nutritional status and pain management of patients upon admission to hospital (92% and 73% respectively), but only 14% agreed that mental health was assessed using validated tools on admission. This reveals a significant area for improvement when it comes to providing holistic assessment to inpatients.