Published: 17 March 2019

Published: 13 June 2011

SEFH’s clinical nutrition workgroup was established to meet the needs of SEFH members dedicated wholly or partly to providing nutritional support to both in- and outpatients.

The complexities of nutritional support as well as the need for these professionals to liaise with other healthcare providers also involved in administering these therapies mean that the needs of these hospital pharmacists may differ from that of some of their colleagues who practice in other areas, such as oncology, pharmacokinetics, outpatient care, etc.

The progressive increase in the number of patients, conditions and specialties, both in the realm of parenteral and enteral nutrition, as well as the specialty’s regulation within the hospital setting, have led many hospital pharmacists to accumulate extensive clinical experience, which must necessarily be accompanied by training and the acquisition of a specific skills-set to ensure that they are capable of catering for their patients’ needs. The reason behind the creation of the clinical nutrition workgroup was to provide hospital pharmacists dedicated to nutritional support, as well as other hospital pharmacists, with the support and resources they require in the field of nutritional support. .

The workgroup therefore seeks to become a forum for sharing experiences, keeping abreast of the latest developments in the field, and standardizing work procedures, always promoting the highest standards of professional practice.

Published: 13 June 2011

Steering Committee

Ordinary members

Published: 13 June 2011

Norms of operation

May 2014

Workgroup’s mission

To promote pharmaceutical care of patients admitted to and/or in the care of hospitals, elderly care centers, etc., who require specialized nutritional support; and of outpatients who require the kind of specialized nutritional support provided by hospital pharmacy departments. The ultimate goal is to obtain optimal results that improve the patients’ quality of life in this domain.

Workgroup’s goals

The goals of the clinical nutrition workgroup are as follows:

- To promote the continuous improvement of the clinical, educational and research work done by hospital pharmacists in the realm of specialized nutritional support.

- To represent the hospital pharmacy profession before the health authorities or any decision-making organization involved in matters related to the provision of nutritional support both to admitted patients and to outpatients. When acting in this capacity, the workgroup acts on behalf of the Governance Board of the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacists (SEFH).

- To foster communication among professionals dedicated to in-hospital nutrition.

- To disseminate scientific and technical information.

- To collaborate with other SEFH working groups.

- To act as an advisory body to SEFH.

- To promote the conduct of research projects.

- To advance continuous improvement across all hospital pharmacy departments.

- To promote the recognition and professional Prestige of the pharmaceutical profession.

- To encourage the performance of activities conducive to achieving the Workgroup’s mission.

- Workgroup members must be SEFH members.

- Workgroup members shall be sovereign and independent in terms of expressing their opinions and deciding the way in which they wish to operate.  

- The workgroup shall be affiliated to SEFH.

Membership and organization:

The workgroup shall be made up of staff (not resident) SEFH-member hospital pharmacists who dedicate at least part of their professional practice to nutritional support.  

The workgroup shall have a steering committee comprising a chairperson and a secretary, a coordinator for the website and the 2.0. network, a series of project coordinators, and the directors of the training activities scheduled for each academic year.

Chair and secretary:

• If possible, they should be members of both SEFH and SENPE.
• Their term of office: 2 years.

Functions of the workgroup’s chair:

- Promote the importance of clinical nutrition within SEFH.

- Participate in different projects undertaken by the group and in the group devoted to preparing consensus documents.

- Organize annual conferences and/or presentations to be delivered at the SEFH and SENPE annual congresses.

- Prepare reports on the workgroup’s annual activities and send it to SEFH0s vice-president.

Functions of the workgroup’s secretary:

- Support the chair in their functions.

- Prepare the minutes of the different workgroup meetings and send them to SEFH.

Functions of the website coordinator:

- Keep the workgroup’s website up to date.

- Tweet news that may be relevant for the workgroup

Coordinators

A series of coordinators will be serving in the workgroup to lead the different research projects undertaken in the field of nutrition.  

These coordinators will promote multi-center studies related to the different branches of nutrition.

Coordinators shall see to the proper development of research projects in their respective areas of interest. They will be supported by other workgroup members with an interest in that specific area.

Workgroup’s organization

1. The workgroup must appoint a chair and a secretary, who shall be elected by the members during an ordinary workgroup meeting. The election as well as the names of the candidates must be included in the meeting’s agenda. The candidate receiving most votes will be elected the workgroup’s chair. Should no candidacies be submitted, workgroup members shall elect two of their number as chair and secretary. The election will be made by consensus or by vote if any of the members requests it. In the latter case, a simple majority will be required.  

2. The chair’s term of office will be two calendar years. Reelection is possible if the outgoing chair presents their nomination and is elected according to the previously stated procedure.

3. The chair, with the support of the standing committee and, if appropriate, by other workgroup members, will perform the following duties:

- Chair all workgroup meetings.

- Coordinate the workgroup’s work with that of other workgroups under SEFH.

- Interact with SEFH’s Governance Board

- Make proposals on the goals to be pursued, the tasks to be performed and the workplan to be followed, and strive for consensus with the other workgroup members.

- Prepare reports and proposals on different matters.  

4. The chair may delegate some of their functions to other workgroup members, if required.  

Mode of operation:

The secretary shall convene the workgroup meetings by sending members an e-mail with the meeting’s agenda.

• Members can request for additional items to be included in the agenda.
• Members shall have a right to vote at committee meetings. Members unable to attend a meeting may cast their vote electronically. In these cases, members must send the coordinator an e-mail stating their vote. The coordinator shall include a copy of this email in the meeting’s minutes.
• Resolutions shall be approved by simple majority. A minimum number of 50% of total possible votes (active members with full voting rights) must be cast.
• The workgroup regulations as well as any amendments to it shall be decided by consensus. A minimum number of 50% of total possible votes (active members with full voting rights) must be cast.
• At least one meeting a year will be held.
• Minutes will be taken for every meeting. The secretary will be responsible for taking the minutes. Once ready, the minutes will be sent to SEFH’s Governance Board, specifically to the society’s workgroup coordinator, and to SEFH’s Technical Secretariat.
• A workplan will be prepared every year, which shall include the following:

- Annual goals.

- Pending issues.

- Activities to be carried out.

- Work calendar.

- Meetings to be held.

• The workgroup may be dissolved when:

- All is proposed goals have been achieved.

- The workgroup had not conducted any activities conducive to achieving its goals for at least two years.

- The workgroups initial goals have ceased to be relevant.

The workgroup’s coordinator or any workgroup member may request for the workgroup to be dissolved when any of the previous circumstances arises. The request may be made at any time and must be submitted in written form to the coordinator, who shall include the proposal in the agenda of the workgroup’s next, ordinary meeting. An extraordinary meeting may also be called to discuss the workgroup’s dissolution.  

Incorporations and withdrawals

1. INCORPORATIONS: Any person with an interest in joining the workgroup must fill in a written application (ANNEX 1) and send it to the workgroup’s chair or secretary. If the applicant meets the requirements established in the present regulations, the secretary will include them in the workgroup’s mailing list so that they can keep abreast of the different projects and activities organized and register for any of them.

2 WITHDRAWALS: Members wishing to withdraw from the workgroup must send an email to that effect to the chair or the secretary. If a member of the steering committee fails to attend three or more consecutive meetings, the chair or the secretary may adopt the decision to exclude them from the workgroup, ensuring that other workgroup members are duly informed. Such a withdrawal shall come into effect at the next workgroup meeting, after a vote is held among all members present. The result shall be recorded in the minutes.

Members can request their incorporation into or withdrawal from the workgroup through the "Join the workgroup" section of the website.

ANNEX 1. SEFH’s Clinical Nutrition Workgroup - Incorporation/withdrawal request

CLINICAL NUTRITION WORKGROUP

Name and surname:

Workplace:

Department:

Position (optional):

Duties/section/unit:

Address:

Telephone number:

E-mail address:

I wish to request my (tick as appropriate):

INCORPORATION:

WITHDRAWAL:

into/from the Clinical Nutrition Workgroup

Remarks/reasons:

Date:

Signed: