Service main issue in hospital catering

Hospital food is getting better and patients are generally satisfied with the quality of their meals, but there is still a long way to go if the Better Hospital Food Programme is to succeed.

That was the message from the Hospital Caterers Association conference in Birmingham today.

Loyd Grossman, chairman of the government's Better Hospital Food panel, said that a great deal of progress had been made over the last two years and standards had improved, but added that it was now time to build on this and raise expectations further. "The time is right to introduce more ideas about innovation," he said.

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Grossman: time for improvements

Grossman introduced several key themes that the Better Hospital Food Programme would be concentrating on during the next year, including improving service standards, modernising purchasing methods so hospitals get the best value, and improving, modernising and encouraging the use of information technology in a bid to respond to patients needs more quickly and more effectively. He added that improvements should also be made in the availability of hot and cold drinks around the clock, and that a greater emphasis needed to be put on the non-food aspects of the meal experience. Patients should be able to have meals away from their beds and with friends and family at other catering facilities around the hospital, he said. Peter Wearmouth, chief executive of NHS Estates, agreed that service was now the aspect of hospital food that needed to be addressed. He said that most patients were happy with the quality of food, but that many were often hungry between meals or were served incorrect dishes. "Should we concentrate on food production or should we be concentrating on food service and how the patient perceives this?" he said. Karen Jennings national secretary for health at union Unison also noted the importance of service. She said the Better Hospital Food Programme would not work unless all staff were directly employed by the NHS. "If we have staff that are treated differently, then what we have is a two-tier service, a service that can lead to malfunction," she said. -