A new innovation in nutrition developed by clinicians at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) will be available to older patients this summer, thanks to funding from Nottingham Hospitals Charity.
Hundreds of older patients being treated at NUH will benefit from the multi award-winning muscle-building, protein-enhanced ice cream developed through research led by the clinical team on the Healthcare of the Older Person wards.
Malnutrition costs the NHS an estimated £20 billion a year. While hospital food is nutritious, many older patients find it hard to eat while staying on the wards and often do not like the alternative of high protein oral nutritional supplement drinks. Ice cream is popular with patients and has been shown to be an effective vehicle for energy/nutrient delivery in older people.
Nottingham Hospitals Charity has agreed to provide funding of up to £4,800 for six mini freezers to store the ice cream, plus supplies of N-ICE Cream®, which comes in four flavours – vanilla, strawberry, salted caramel and mint.
From research to reality
Professor Opinder Sahota, Consultant in ortho-geriatric medicine at NUH, who has driven the N-ICE Cream® project says: “We are delighted to be able to make N-ICE Cream® widely available at last to some of the most vulnerable patients who are treated at our hospitals and help these patients avoid malnutrition, which is a major cause and consequence of ill health among the elderly.
“Our team would like to thank the Nottingham Hospitals Charity for their generous support with this project, which has enabled us to move N-ICE Cream® from being a research study to a nutritional supplement product that is routinely offered to patients on our wards.”
N-ICE Cream® been tested and developed over several years by researchers in Nottingham and its effectiveness is backed by peer review. It is manufactured for NUH by Matlock Meadows Dairy Farm in Derbyshire, a family run dairy farm.
The product has also received five external awards in an 18-month period including awards for NHS innovation, and innovation within the dairy food sector.
Image shows Professor Opinder Sahota.
