Southampton will host a tube-feeding training day for healthcare professionals.

The Gastrostomy Study Day (GSD) will bring together nurses, clinicians and paediatric nutritional specialists, including those from Southampton's Children’s Hospital, to share the latest technologies, techniques and research.

Funded and hosted by Vygon UK, the leading medical device company, the event will take place at the Leonardo Hotel on June 20, 2024. There, Gareth Birkett, the founder of a company called Wilbo’s Blends, will discuss the findings from his company's research.

His talk will be centred around the BLENDS study's findings.

According to the study, an increasing number of families are resorting to blending real food for their tube-feeding loved ones, rather than utilising store-bought liquid feed.

Additionally, Southampton’s Children’s Hospital paediatric surgical nurse specialists, Rhoda Taylor and Karen Dick, and Melody Chan, the paediatric parenteral nutrition and neonatal medicine pharmacist, will lead masterclasses.

Also, attendees will learn about Vygon's newest product - the easymoov6, a feeding pump designed to facilitate access to blended diets and assure families who use it.

The GSD coincides with the National Nurses Nutritional Group (NNNG) conference's starting day, where Vygon will be exhibiting.

Held at the Novotel Southampton, the conference runs from the 20 to 21 June 2024.

Each attendee will be required to contribute £20 towards the programme's cost, with all proceeds being donated to PINNT, a charity supporting individuals on home artificial nutrition.

The charity received £5,000 from the previous GSD event in 2023.

More details and registration information for the event can be found on Vygon's website.

Vygon UK’s Mark Chadwick, who will be in Southampton for the event, said: "Our highly-anticipated GSD event in Southampton will bring together experts on this emotive area of healthcare, to share experiences and learnings around tube-feeding.

"We’re passionate about offering medical technology that can support children and their families who need long term assistance with feeding or require extra nutrients to grow and develop, and it’s fantastic to have specialists from Southampton Children’s Hospital joining us to lead sessions."