Abstract To evaluate and improve current ‘Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool’ (MUST) chart documentation practice for all acute general surgical admissions in line with local trust as well as NICE guidelines. Malnutrition is an under-identified issue that is common amongst surgical patients and has been shown to result in poorer clinical outcomes and increased hospital economical burdens. The MUST assessment is a simple and effective way to identify and monitor malnutrition, so appropriate interventions can be implemented. Methods: As per trust guidance, every patient should have a MUST form completed within 24 hours of their admission. Clinical records for all general surgical admissions were reviewed to see if a MUST score form was completed, during a two-week period from 01/09/24 – 15/09/24. It was recorded whether any MUST was completed during their stay, and then if this was completed within first 24 hours of admission. Quality improvement (QI) measures were then introduced and MUST documentation is to be re-audited in December 2024. Results: During the first audit cycle, a total of 43 patients were admitted during this two-week period. 6 of them were omitted due to either lack of clinical records available, being palliated on admission, or being admitted under a non-general surgical team. This left 37 patients to be reviewed. Of these 37, only 3 (8%) of them had a MUST form completed. Of these 3, none of them were completed within the 24 hour admission period. Conclusions: MUST documentation is currently significantly non-adherent to local and national guidelines.
Bryce et al. (Fri,) studied this question.