The nutrition and hydration digest : improving outcomes through food and beverage services

Knowing about food and the basic principles of food service should be common to all dietitians. This document provides a platform for dietitians and caterers alike to speak with one voice. Nurses, speech and language therapists and others interested in delivering excellence in food and beverage services will also find it inspiring. The original Toolkit was written in 2006 and it had an agreed revision planned for 5 years. The aim of the revised toolkit is not only to update the original document, but also to make it more streamlined and user friendly. The passage of time and many changes in food service, catering, legislation, monitoring and dietetics since 2006 gave us much ‘food for thought’ to incorporate into the new document. We also intend that it will be used for a wider ‘audience’, so in addition to patients in hospital who were the main ‘beneficiaries’ in the 2006 toolkit, people in care settings, recipients of community care and even those in their own homes will be included.