The trial, which will take place this month, will involve patients in the orthopedic and trauma ward and regional spine units at the trust.
The researchers said they hope the product, which has been enhanced with protein and vitamin D, will help improve the nutritional health of some of their older patients.
Professor Opinder Sahota, Consultant in Orthogeriatric Medicine at NUH, said: “Enabling all our patients to eat a nutritious diet during their hospital stay is a high priority, but older people who have sustained musculoskeletal injuries are of particular concern in terms of of encouraging them to eat enough calories.
“Nearly half of all patients admitted with a hip fracture suffer from malnutrition.
“Our research team found that among older adults in hospital with broken bones, there is poor dietary intake and low compliance in drinking additional nutritional supplement drinks; however, ice cream is a popular choice among our patients.
“Protein is important for muscles and helping the body heal. So we decided to develop our own ‘builder’ ice cream, which is high in energy, high in protein and with added vitamin D.”
The ice cream was developed in association with the family dairy farm, Dreamy Cow Farmhouse Ice Cream.
Farmer Tony Thorp, who runs the farm with his brother, his wife and daughter, said: “It’s the first time we’ve done something like this, but it’s nice to be involved in helping people and bringing a highly nutritious product to troubled patients.
