Lunch clubs – the menu for better health and happiness

Orthopaedic patients are enjoying the benefits of a lunch club initiative organised by physiotherapists at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH).

It's just one of the many legacies inspired by March on Frailty, a month-long focus on encouraging patients to retain their independence and strength while in hospital.

The lunch clubs offer patients the opportunity to eat their lunch sat around a table with other patients on their bay, creating a more normal lunchtime routine, just like being at home. Following lunch, patients can take part in an activity such as a seated exercise class, painting or playing cards. This routine can be particularly important for patients with dementia.

Lunch club attendee Florence said: "It's a lovely idea, it gives me confidence and something to look forward to. It's nice to be able to chat with the others in my bay."

Another attendee, Mabel, said: "The staff here are wonderful, it's nice that they take time out of their busy day to sit with us. Getting to know everyone has helped me feel more comfortable and relaxed."

RUH physiotherapist Hannah Cooper said: "It's lovely to see the enjoyment patients get from socialising and interacting with each other. But the lunch clubs do much more than that – they help us get patients more active throughout the day, accelerating their rehabilitation and helping us get them back home sooner, where they want to be."

Dr Chris Dyer, Consultant Geriatrician at the RUH said: "Research has shown that encouraging and supporting patients to get dressed and get moving can reduce the loss of mobility, fitness and strength. Just two days of bed rest reduces a patient's muscle strength by 2 - 5%, that loss of strength may make the difference between dependence and independence."

This year the focus of March on Frailty is the importance of staff identifying and assessing frailty at the earliest possible stage by completing a 'frailty score' for each patient before planning their treatment, ensuring that we provide them with the very best and most appropriate care.

ENDS

Notes to Editor

• The Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust provides acute treatment and care for a catchment population of around 500,000 people in Bath, and the surrounding towns and villages in North East Somerset and Western Wiltshire. The hospital provides healthcare to the population served by four Clinical Commissioning Groups: Bath & North East Somerset CCG, Wiltshire CCG, Somerset CCG and South Gloucestershire CCG.
• The Trust has 759 beds and a comprehensive range of acute services including medicine and surgery, services for women and children, accident and emergency services, and diagnostic and clinical support services.
• In 2015 The Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust acquired the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD) NHS Foundation Trust. The RNHRD treats patients from across the country offering services in rheumatology, chronic pain, chronic fatigue syndrome/ME, cancer related fatigue and fatigue linked to other long term conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
• The RUH is changing - we have an exciting programme of redevelopment underway transforming our site and further improving the services we provide. The Trust is building a purpose built RNHRD and Therapies Centre and is now working towards a new Dyson Cancer Centre. For more details visit: www.ruh.nhs.uk/fit4future

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