Two dedicated Specialist Nutrition Nurses from Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust have been recognised on the national stage for their outstanding work in community care.
Amy Molloy and Louise Dudey, who are part of the Dietetic Home Enteral Feeding (HEF) team based at Queen Elizabeth (QE) Hospital in Gateshead, have been shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Community Nutrition Professional of the Year’ award at the 2025 Complete Nutrition (CN) Awards.
The CN Awards, organised by Complete Nutrition Magazine, shine a spotlight on innovation and excellence in nutritional care across the UK. This recognition reflects Amy and Louise’s incredible efforts in improving the lives of patients who require feeding tubes, often known as enteral feeding.
Helping patients stay safe and at home
The Nutrition Nurse Team was nominated for their pioneering work on the Enteral Feeding Alert project, an innovative system designed to ensure that any patient with a feeding tube is quickly identified and supported upon arrival at the hospital.
Since 2022, the HEF team has worked closely with colleagues across the Trust to ensure that patients with feeding tubes have a special ‘alert’ added to their electronic hospital records. This alert automatically notifies the HEF team whenever the patient is admitted or seen at the hospital, including in the Emergency Department or Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) unit.
This means the right specialist can step in promptly to assess and support the patient, helping to resolve any issues with the feeding tube before they become more serious. It also helps prevent unnecessary hospital admissions by offering the right help at the right time.
Furthermore, this alert system now serves as a direct referral to the dietetics team, making the entire process faster and more efficient for both staff and patients.
A local project making a national impact
The Gateshead HEF team’s project has already made waves nationally. In 2024, their data was shared as a poster presentation at the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN) national conference. The results have already begun shaping how care is delivered locally, and ongoing data collection is helping to build a clear picture of which types of feeding tubes are linked to more hospital visits, allowing the team to plan better support for patients at home.
The HEF team’s mission is simple yet powerful: to help people in Gateshead manage their enteral feeding needs safely at home with confidence and the proper support, thereby reducing avoidable hospital stays.
Being shortlisted for this national award is a well-deserved recognition of the dedication, care, and innovation that Amy, Louise, and the entire HEF team bring to their work every day.
You can show your support by heading over to the 2025 CN Awards voting form and casting your vote for Amy Molloy and Louise Dudey in the Community Nutrition Professional of the Year category. Voting closes at 11:59pm (UK time) on 21 July 2025.
Wishing them the very best of luck at the CN Awards 2025, and a huge congratulations from everyone at Gateshead Health!