Who we are
The Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) comprises of paediatric and adult dietitians, dietetic assistants, nurses and administration support. The service is available for children and adults registered with an east or west Kent GP Practice.
What we do
We provide assessment and continuing support for patients with enteral tube feeding in the community.
Enteral tube feeding involves providing complete liquid nutrition to patients who are unable to meet their nutritional needs by mouth. This may be because they are unable to physically eat and/or drink due to an obstruction/surgery/treatment, they have an unsafe swallow or because they have high nutritional needs which cannot be met from an oral diet.
We are experts when it comes to understanding the complexities of enteral feeding tubes and the ancillary plastics required to make feeding as safe and as easy as possible.
Patients are seen at home, in clinics or in an appropriate community setting to assess their nutritional needs and direct their treatment. We also keep GPs up-to-date with their patients’ nutritional requirements.
You will have an initial appointment to review how things are going and will then be contacted at regular agreed intervals by us to review your nutrition, feeding regimen and equipment. We work closely with the enteral feeding company and will discuss the delivery service you receive. We can co-ordinate the ordering of ancillary plastics used for enteral feeding, tube repair and replacement.