Press Releases
The Hospital Caterers Association's response To The PPI Forums' Food Watch Survey
In response to the findings of the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forums' "Food Watch" Survey findings announced today (Monday 16 October 2006), Alison McCree, Chairman of the Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) comments as follows:
"It is absolutely imperative that we continue to strive to maintain or improve the standard of food and food services to patients, staff and visitors in our hospitals and do everything possible to ensure that standards do not slip. The Better Hospital Food Programme did catalyse change and significant improvements were achieved. Indeed, the Food Watch Campaign bore this out in many places
The HCA was disappointed by many of the survey findings which appear to contradict recent Government PEAT surveys. These had indicated significant rises in patient satisfaction with hospital food. However, it should be noted that whilst the Government has stood down the Better Hospital Food Panel, the objectives of the Better Hospital Food Programme still need to be met but these now become the responsibility of individual NHS Trusts. As food standards will continue to be monitored by the Health Care Commission using the PEAT process, NHS Trust Boards cannot afford to allow food to slip off their radar.
Despite the negative findings, the HCA applauds the PPI Forums for conducting the Survey. By ensuring that hospital food and catering services stay in the public and media spotlight, then there is even greater pressure for them to be treated as priority issues by NHS Trust Boards
Whilst improving the use of quality ingredients and overhauling menus was an essential part of the process of change, the HCA has always stressed that unless we have a system that ensures a patient can receive and consume his or her food to the best possible standard, in the best possible environment then there will be a variable success rate with regard to the positive or negative impact on patients' perceptions of their meals and mealtimes as well as their nutritional intake, status, wellbeing and recovery rates.
With NHS Trusts spending literally millions on food supplements every year, one solution to saving money in the NHS does not lie in making cuts but applying common sense solutions and by altering attitudes toward catering services and food at all levels.
Real food is, without doubt, the cheapest form of medicine. With more attention - not necessarily more investment - being given to ensuring the clinical and nursing teams play a bigger part in recognizing the nutritional value of food in the treatment of patients and giving more credence to mealtimes then patients will continue to experience inconsistencies in the standard of food delivery in many cases.
Many of the issues cited by patients in relation to their satisfaction with meals such as with cold, late or wrong meals could be dramatically reduced by adopting practical measures. For example, the HCA believes that ward housekeepers or 'hostesses' should be more widely deployed to work alongside nursing staff on every ward. The introduction of ward housekeepers was a fundamental target of the Government's 2000 NHS Plan but not many hospitals have them stationed on all wards. .
Caterers would like to feel that the ward food service was in a safe pair of hands and they can play a valuable role in observing patients eating patterns. They can greatly relieve the pressure on nursing staff by acting as an early warning system and raising concerns over patients who need nutritional attention and support. It is the duty and responsibility of nursing staff to attend to the nutritional status of patients and to take the necessary action such as a though a 'red tray' system, to ensure they are not allowed to become malnourished.
The Better Hospital Food Programme was largely set up to focus on 'cuisine' and 'menus'. Now we need to turn our attention towards the issues associated with creating a joined-up delivery and service process. This will increase the opportunity for patients to receive the appropriate meals and to be given assistance to eat where necessary
Until all those employed within the patient care chain from the caterers, dietitians, auxiliary staff right through to doctors and nurses, take on equal ownership of the hospital's catering service, accept a personal responsibility for the provision of food once it is at ward level and give food as much status as any other aspect of a patient's treatment or care, then finding a complete 'cure' for all the ills with hospital food will be questionable".
Download a full copy of the report in pdf format.
16 October 2006