BANT calls for Nutritional Therapy Practitioners to work within Primary Care under the NHS 10-Year Health Plan
Extend the Dietetics register to include Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioners
The British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) has submitted its response to the Labour government’s NHS 10-Year Health Plan unanimously calling for an extension to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register to include Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioners.
This singular regulatory change would augment the NHS workforce and get straight to the issue of tackling chronic disease through prevention-led care, thus relieving the strain on NHS resources and instantly increasing General Practitioner capacity to address GP wait lists.
Furthermore, extending the HCPC dietetics register would allow these skilled Nutritional Therapy professionals to play a vital role working in primary care, community and neighbourhood settings where the NHS most needs strengthening. Nutritional Therapy Practitioners can deliver targeted nutritional interventions that transform lives and prevent the escalation of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes (T2DM), IBS, cancer, dementia, and mental health issues.
BANT currently represents c. 3,000 Nutritional Therapy Practitioners who are available and voluntarily registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), Professional Standards Authority Accredited Register (PSA), providing a clear roadmap for their timely addition to the regulatory HCPC register and primary care workforce.
Nutrition and lifestyle medicine services are currently not integrated in primary care settings despite increasing scientific evidence correlating ‘diet’ and ‘lifestyle’ with risk factors for preventable chronic disease1.
With two-thirds of British adults overweight and 26% living with obesity, the need for nutrition and lifestyle support has never been greater2. The cost of obesity is estimated at 0.05% to 2.42% of the country’s gross domestic product, equivalent to 98 billion annually (GDP) 3&4. Despite high levels of obesity, the current NHS workforce is unable to meet the demand for weight loss support and obesity prevention5.
Looking ahead, the stakes are even higher, with projections indicating that 25 million more people in England will be living with major illnesses by 20406. Nutritional Therapy has proven effective in reducing symptoms and enhancing health and activity, offering a beacon of hope for a healthier future for the NHS and more importantly, the people it serves7.
BANT calls on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting to set in motion this extension to the HCPC register and give the nation access to nutrition and lifestyle practitioners as the first-line intervention to prevent chronic disease.
BANT CEO, Satu Jackson believes the NHS 10-Year health Plan could hit the ground running with this recommended change to the HCPC register saying “the vast majority of nutrition and lifestyle medicine practitioners are currently working in private practice. This unfairly discriminates against those who are unable to afford and access nutrition services. The British people deserve to have access to nutrition provision within the NHS and BANT will continue to represent its 3000 members and lobby for this change”.
Earlier this year, BANT launched its manifesto for health, which outlines its plan for feeding our future and transforming health and nutrition in Britain. The call for nutrition practitioners in the NHS sits alongside other preventative healthcare measures that extend to addressing broader socio-economic imbalances in the UK food landscape that contribute to the rise in chronic disease.
Read our 'Actions to Achieve Change':
- Policy to support a healthier population.
- Increase funding for prevention.
- Include nutrition practitioners in the NHS.
- Update national dietary guidelines.
- Legislation on food labelling.
- Action against the drivers of obesity.
Read the full manifesto here.
The British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) is available to work with other organisations to improve the way health and care services work together to promote better health in the UK.
References
- Healthy lifestyle and life expectancy free of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort study BMJ 2020; 368 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6669 (Published 08 January 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;368:l6669
- https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn03336/#:~:text=Adult%20obesity%20in%20England,is%20classified%20as%20'overweight (Accessed 05 December 2024)
- Nagi, M.A., Ahmed, H., Rezq, M.A.A. et al. Economic costs of obesity: a systematic review. Int J Obes 48, 33–43 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-023-01398-y
- https://www.frontier-economics.com/uk/en/news-and-insights/news/news-article-i20358-the-rising-cost-of-obesity-in-the-uk/ (Accesed 06 December 2024)
- Obesity: Only half of England has access to comprehensive weight loss services. BMJ 2024; 386 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q1950 (Published 11 September 2024)
- 2.5 million more people in England projected to be living with major illness by 2040, The Health Foundation (Published 25 July 2023) https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/news/25-million-more-people-in-england-projected-to-be-living-with-major-illness-by-2040 (Accessed 05 December 2024)
- Harris, Miranda and Benbow, Alison (2022) Evaluating the Effectiveness of Nutritional Therapy in the McClelland Teaching Clinic at the University of Worcester. Online Journal of Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 6 (3). ISSN 2644-2957 https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/11981/ (Accessed 05 December 2024).
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