Released 12 September 2022
Request:
I would be grateful if you could provide copies of any pathways/protocols that relate to the use of Nasogastric (NG) feeding tubes within your trust.
In particular please advise if there is a pathway/protocol relating to the removal of/weaning off of the NG feeding.
Information disclosed:
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has been in operation since 1 April 2021 following the merger of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
We are currently in the process of updating our policies and procedures across the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. Until this process has been completed some services continue to use legacy documents and this is reflected in the information we have provided.
Please note there is currently no single policy that covers nasogastric feeding across the whole Trust. We have provided documents below relevant to our main Neonatal units. Should we receive any additional relevant documents we will forward these on as an addendum to our response.
With regard to polices and protocols covering the decision to wean patients of NG tubes this is a very individual process and is the result of a shared decision between parents/carers, the health professional team involved and the community/outreach nurses. As such this is only touched on in the attached policies.
Staff names have been redacted from the documents provided in line with section 40(2) exemption of the Act on the grounds that this amounts to personal data. The engagement of s.40(2) in this case is considered absolute and is not subject to public interest considerations.
The following documents are relevant to the Trevor Mann Baby Unit, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton:
TMBU – Preparation and Administration of Milk Feeds 2022_Redacted (51kB)
TMBU – Guideline for the use of oro and nasogastric tubes on the neonatal unit August 2019 (340kB)
TMBU – Feeding guideline for surgical neonates (84kB)
TMBU – Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition 2022 (162kB)
The following documents are relevant to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, Brighton:
RACH -Transition from Nasogastric to Oral Feeding_Redacted (144kB)
RACH -The Use of OroNasogastric Tubes on the Neonatal Unit_Redacted (357kB)
RACH – Tube weaning protocol_glascow (52kB)
The following documents are relevant to St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester and Worthing Hospital, Worthing:
St Richards Preparation storage handling checking and admin of entral feeds policy_Redacted (525kB)
St Richards & Worthing Paediatric Enteral Feeding Guidelines 2018 amended_Redacted (2MB)
St Richards – Nasogastric Tube Parent Competency Assessment (91kB)