Challenges and opportunities for the future Clinical Nutrition Committee in Tartu University Hospitals

Patients of health care and welfare institutions have several accompanying diseases; therefore, the nutritional counsellors’ or dietary nurses’ competence is often insufficient for administering a special diet, but the help of clinical dietologists and physicians of different specialities is necessary. In elaboration of clinical nutrition therapy strategies, their consistent development and coordination, an interdisciplinary clinical nutrition team can be helpful. Raising the nutritional awareness of the staff of structural units of medical and welfare institutions in helps them make rational choices in different disease cases, guaranteeing the patient’s wellbeing and a health care service with maximum benefit and minimum risk for the patient’s health. Physicians and other specialists of Tartu University Hospital (nurses, speech therapists, pharmacists, nutrition counsellors, diabetes nurses) have contributed comprehensively to chronic patients’ individual counselling during hospital treatment and supporting of outpatients’ nutritional treatment. In 2018, an initiative group of physicians of the hospital presented to the hospital’s Executive Board the need for establishing a broad-based expert group of clinical nutrition. With the Executive Board’s decision, a clinical nutrition committee was founded for rendering the nutrition treatment service