No caffeine for Derbyshire hospital patients in a bid to increase patient safety

Image by Kawita Chitprathak from Pixabay

Tea and coffee is no longer being offered to patients at many Derbyshire hospitals in a bid to increase patient safety.

The move, from Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Ilkeston and Ripley Community Hospitals, along with facilities at many others, has now been in force since January, the organisation said.

The trust said the decision follows links to sleep disruption, a significant increase in falls and continence issues, sudden rises in heart palpitations and blood pressure and broken bones.

The trust says patients will still be able to request a caffeinated drink.

It runs and provides services at Babington Hospital (Belper), Buxton Hospital, Cavendish Hospital (Buxton), Clay Cross Hospital, Ilkeston Community Hospital, Ripley Community Hospital, St Oswald’s Hospital (Ashbourne), Walton Hospital (Chesterfield), Whitworth Hospital (Darley Dale) and Florence Nightingale Community Hospital (Derby).

Many of these hospitals contain numerous vending machines offering caffeinated hot and cold drinks to patients, staff and visitors.

The trust also continues to endorse cafes run by charitable community groups at its major sites in Ilkeston and Ripley, which include the sale of caffeinated hot and cold drinks for patients, staff and visitors.

The Mayo Clinic, which conducts health research and operates clinics in the UK and USA, show an average cup of coffee has 96 milligrams of caffeine, compared to 48 milligrams in tea, 79 milligrams in an energy drink and 33 milligrams in a can of coke, with 400 milligrams a day being the advised safe daily amount for an adult.

Research from consumer group Which found caffeine levels in major coffee brands varied drastically, ranging from 66 milligrams in Starbucks’ cappuccino up to 325 milligrams in the same beverage at Costa.

In recent board papers, the Derbyshire NHS trust said: “Caffeine, a central nervous system stimulant, has been clinically demonstrated to induce adverse physiological responses including anxiety, sleep disturbances, cardiovascular responses, and serious reactions such as arrhythmias. 

“These disturbances increase patient falls risk, and falls become more likely. 

“Following a systematic analysis of peer-reviewed literature, it was determined that implementing a change to decaffeinated beverages on our wards would yield a reduction in falls incidents. 

“On the 1st of January all our wards transitioned to decaffeinated beverages as the standard offering, with caffeinated options available upon patient request.”

The report says there is a clear link between reduced caffeine consumption and improved patient safety outcomes.

It said a study from Stow Healthcare found a 34.72 per cent reduction in falls during its trial in not offering caffeine to patients.

That same study found falls linked to continence issues reduced by 30 per cent.

The Derbyshire report says drinking more than two cups of coffee or four cups of tea a day can make broken bones more likely and that decaffeinated drinks help reduce the chance of dehydration.

It says the trial found reduced sudden rises in blood pressure and heart palpitation and that removing caffeine helps with sleep problems including better sleep quality.