Hospital gives thumbs down to fast food
Southern General Hospital NHS Trust in Glasgow has rejected a tender by McDonald's after weeks of negotiations over a proposed restaurant.
McDonald's, which already has an outlet at London's Guy's Hospital, submitted a bid when Southern General put its visitors' restaurant out to tender in December, and initially it appeared to have been successful.
But last week the plans were thrown out and the hospital's in-house catering service will step in to fill the gap when the Red Cross, which has run a cafeteria on the site for the past five years, moves out in May.
"McDonald's submitted the best tender in terms of costs, the income it would generate and the investment it was planning on the site," admitted director of operational support at the trust Alex McIntyre.
"But there were issues over car parking and security on our 52-acre campus site which meant it was the wrong time to go ahead with such a plan. We also took account of staff and patient opinion. Many were against it because of the message it portrayed about healthy eating," he added.
Local MP for Glasgow Govan, Ian Davidson, also put pressure on the trust by organising a petition against the proposed McDonald's with several thousand signatures.
