Who we are

The Nightingale Trust for Nutritional Support was founded in 2005, as a result of the experiences of founding member Pam Harris. Pam worked tirelessly for the Trust, particularly in the area of fundraising, until her retirement from the Trust in 2013

It is named after Florence Nightingale who first drew attention to malnutrition during the Crimean War. In some respects not a lot has changed since then. A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report in 2013 stated that 40% of UK hospitals had no nutritional support team, a situation which had changed little in the previous 5 years.

Our aim is that hospitals nationally will have nurses and other healthcare professionals trained to carry out the complex procedures necessary for artificial nutrition.

One practical way of doing this is to fund the training of nurses. Initially this was achieved through sponsoring nurses to attend nutrition nursing courses in Southampton and London. We supply funding contributions to hospitals for textbooks and mannequins.

In 2013 the Trust created a unique and pioneering training programme for ward and community based nurses, Caring for Patients Receiving Nutritional Support. This 2-day course takes place twice a year at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. It is designed and financed by the Nightingale Trust, and is now accredited by the National Nurses Nutrition Group (NNNG).