NHS caterers attack plans for chefs panel
Hospital caterers have expressed some misgivings about Government plans to improve hospital food, which will involve a 24-hour service and a new menu devised by a panel of chefs headed up by TV personality Lloyd Grossman (Caterer,16 November, page 5).
"Is this a publicity stunt?" asked Stephen Morgan, operations director of the in-house catering team at Bedford Hospital. "Is it just a cosmetic exercise? It doesn't smack of reality."
Morgan was "amazed and stunned" that the panel included no dietitians or NHS professionals who understood the clinical needs of patients and the tight margins operating in hospitals. He felt Grossman lacked credibility in the public health sector.
His concern was shared by Sandra Roberts, treasurer for the Hospital Caterers' Association, who feared the current panel faced "a huge learning curve". Wilson Barry, managing director of Sodexho Healthcare, thought including a contracting representative would also have provided a broader mix.
Roberts and Morgan both questioned the demand for a24-hour food service, which they suspected could prove "astronomically expensive".
Chris Gray, managing director of Compass Healthcare, agreed it would prove "a tall challenge" that would "test our creativity".
Roberts felt that, while food should be available out-of-hours for patients who had missed meals, the real issue was helping sick people to eat and dealing with the increasing numbers entering hospital suffering from malnutrition.
