{"id":735,"date":"2026-06-18T20:04:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/?page_id=735"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:28:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:28:21","slug":"735-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/?page_id=735","title":{"rendered":"About ASCEND"},"content":{"rendered":"

About ASCEND<\/h2>\n\n\n
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The ASCEND<\/strong> project has been commissioned by the BDA Paediatric Specialist Group (PSG)<\/strong> and Dietitians Interested in Special Children (DISC)<\/strong>, with funding provided by the British Dietetic Association (BDA)<\/strong>. Its purpose is to develop evidence-based safer staffing guidance for community paediatric dietetic services providing care for children and young people requiring home enteral tube feeding (HETF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on the BDA Safe Staffing and Safe Workload (2024)<\/strong> framework, ASCEND will collect specialist workforce data to better understand staffing requirements, workload pressures and the realities of service delivery. By combining national workforce intelligence with the experiences of community paediatric dietetic teams, the project aims to develop practical, evidence-based guidance tailored to this specialist area of practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working collaboratively with dietitians and dietetic support workers across the UK’s four nations, we hope to strengthen the evidence base that supports sustainable workforce planning, appropriate service investment and the delivery of safe, equitablle, high-quality care for children and young people receiving home enteral tube feeding in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the fern, meaningful growth begins with strong roots. Through collaboration, shared learning and a common purpose, ASCEND aims to build the foundations for resilient services, a supported and sustainable workforce, and improved wellbeing for both clinicians and the children, young people and families they care for.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The aim of ASCEND is to produce a safer staffing recommendation specifically aimed at dietitians working in community paediatric roles who provide home enteral feeding support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Background<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There has been a significant increase in the dietetic workload required for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), specifically those on home enteral feeding. Children are surviving longer, partly due to their improved nutritional status. Therefore, caseloads continue to rise, without matching dietetic support. No current guidance on workload exists for any group of paediatric patients. This was a particularly \u2018hot topic\u2019 at the paediatric specialist group 2024 study day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A number of enquiries to both the Paediatric Specialist Group, and the Dietitians Interested in Special Children group* has been received on this topic, and there is currently no guidance for them. The recent Safer Staffing tool gives a framework for reviewing caseloads, however this has not focussed specifically on the topic of community paediatric dietitians who manage such cases. Dietitians in this group manage socially complex cases, by which we would like to evaluate the St George\u2019s Universal dietetic complexity tool<\/a>. In addition, they have statutory roles such as the completion of Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs) which also needs to be included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We hope to (i) survey the workforce on this topic and (ii) interpret the BDA Safer Staffing guidelines to apply for dietitians based in community paediatric roles, provide staffing guidance for those working with enterally fed children to support their workforce planning and ensure the dietetic care for children with SEND is prioritised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*The Dietitians in Special Children group is an affiliation of dietitians working with children with special educational needs. Many members are also members of the BDA Paediatric Specialist Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ASCEND team<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Survey Guides<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Contact us<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The ASCEND project has been commissioned by the BDA Paediatric Specialist Group (PSG) and Dietitians Interested in Special Children (DISC), with funding provided by the British Dietetic Association (BDA). Its purpose is to develop evidence-based safer staffing guidance for community paediatric dietetic services providing care for children and young people requiring home enteral tube feeding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-no-title","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-735","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=735"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1023,"href":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/735\/revisions\/1023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hef.bda.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}