What the doctor ordered
Any opportunity to forget that you are in a hospital can be a terrific boost for staff and visitors alike. Such an environment now exists within one of the UK's busiest NHS Trust hospitals - Addenbrooke's in Cambridge.
A food court, which officially opens today (8 June), offers the hospital's 5,000 staff and 6,000 daily visitors a chance to eat in a relaxed, retail environment away from the stresses and strains of this hectic general hospital.
The brainchild of Bateman Catering - the healthcare arm of the Compass Group - the food court concept has taken more than two years to get off the ground. Bateman managing director Chris Goff first put the idea to the administrator of Addenbrooke's Hospital, Keith Day, in March 1993.
Since then, the hospital has had to adhere to a rigid tendering out process, during which it received interest from 45 contract catering companies.
After three detailed competitive tenders were received, however, the originator of the idea - Bateman - Catering, won the bid.
A first for addenbrooke's
Goff's idea has created the country's first hospital food court in the UK's largest retail concourse in a hospital.
The concourse has long boasted a supermarket, florist, bank, gift shop, newsagent and clothes shop - all doing brisk business. Next to this area was the large 15,000 sq ft staff restaurant, which Goff believed could be opened up and joined to the main concourse.
As Addenbrooke's is some distance from Cambridge city centre and has few shops or restaurants close by, Goff saw the opportunity to bring some familiar high street catering names to the hospital.
Bateman had started to introduce branded restaurant names into its other hospital contracts around the country, an experience that Goff believes was a main factor in winning the tender at Addenbrooke's.
"We had established the first branded restaurant outlet within a UK hospital and a track record of working with names such as Pizza Hut and Burger King - something which Addenbrooke's obviously found attractive," says Goff.
The finished project is more reminiscent of a food court in a shopping mall or international airport, than the catering facilities of a general hospital. It includes four branded catering outlets (Pizza Hut, Burger King, Café Select and Upper Crust), as well as Options, a more traditional staff restaurant providing both hot and cold food.
Options now cooks to order, as opposed to preparing meals in a central kitchen, providing customers with a far more attractive selection of dishes in an modern environment.
The mix of catering units now operating at the hospital fits in well with what staff and visitors had requested in a survey of their lunch-time food requirements. Of more than 500 completed questionnaires, 30% asked for sandwiches, 30% preferred pizzas and 20% wanted burgers.
With the food court in operation a few weeks prior to today's official opening, the early signs are good. Anticipated annual turnover is £1.25m and 20,000 covers a week look to be well on target.
job creation
All units are open to staff and hospital visitors between 7am and 9.30pm, with a night service available from 11pm to 2am. Staff are entitled to a discount of 25% on main meal items in Options, while the rest of the prices are equivalent to those found in similar high street operations. Central seating for 450, in a variety of styles, is broken up by a selection of green plants.
As well as taking on the 15 catering staff previously employed by the NHS Trust, Bateman Catering has created an additional 40 jobs to run the contract.
The £825,000 capital cost of creating the food court has been borne entirely by Bateman, an investment the company obviously sees as viable. "In any project involving branded units, we always take the financial risk entirely on ourselves - as would be the case in any shopping centre food court," says Goff. "Given the fact that takings have been about £50,000 per week during the first fortnight, we are more than delighted with our investment."
For Addenbrooke's, the project offers the trust a number of significant benefits, particularly financial ones. As well as achieving a saving of £200,000 a year subsidy through the closure of the staff canteen, there is now a provision of increased choice to staff and visitors, without any capital investment. And although all the financial risk is being carried by Bateman, the trust has been given the opportunity to share in the profits of the venture.
The commercial service manager at Addenbrooke's, Peter Bennett, is pleased with the finished concept. "We have created a non-hospital atmosphere within a hospital - somewhere that provides an excellent escape from the surrounding environment," he says. "It is most important to offer brands that people will feel comfortable with - that way they are more likely to eat here. And the first signs are that they are doing that, with the staff moving between outlets each day, and far more visitors eating here than ever before."
Patient catering at Addenbrooke's is handled in-house and is also being upgraded. A new £1.5m cook-chill kitchen is being introduced to ensure patients receive the same improved standards in their meals as staff and visitors.
