The Spring 10 issue of Speech & Language Therapy in Practice is with the printer and should be mailed out to subscribers next week.

One of the news items (p.2) is about a report on end-of-life nutrition strategy which has been endorsed by the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists. ‘Oral feeding difficulties and dilemmas – A guide to practical care, particularly towards the end of life’ is published by the Royal College of Physicians and the British Society of Gastroenterology. It was written by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, medico-legal experts and patient representatives, and concludes that ‘nil by mouth’ should be a last resort rather than the default option.

The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in Putney commented positively on the strategy but also wanted to highlight the value of tube feeding to care and quality of life in certain circumstances. As an example of their work in promoting informed decision making, they sent a guide to artifical feeding for people with Huntington’s disease, and have given me permission to share it.