Press Releases

Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) reaction to the forthcoming Channel 4 Dispatches programme on hospital food

The Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) understands that Channel 4 is planning to broadcast a Dispatches programme shortly on the poor standard of hospital meals. This appears to be based on the actual experience of one reporter (Mark Sparrow) as a long term hospital patient, his dissatisfaction with his meals and some subsequent investigative research by him after he left hospital into other patients’ reactions to food.

Kevan Wallace, Chair, Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) says:

“Until the Programme is actually aired, it is difficult to comment on its content, tone or criticisms. However, based on the pre-broadcast publicity and Channel 4 website coverage, the HCA is led to believe that feedback has only been obtained from a small number of patients and as this has not been conducted nationwide, it is unlikely to be a fully representative picture of hospital food on a wider scale. We also fear that it will not give a realistic perspective of hospital catering and the issues facing caterers as this present time”.

“However, we take any complaint and dissatisfaction very seriously. It is absolutely imperative that we all continue to strive to maintain or improve the standard of food and food services to patients in our hospitals and do everything possible to ensure that standards do not slip. The Better Hospital Food Programme (in England) did catalyse change and significant improvements were achieved which continue in many hospitals today”.

I would also add the following points ahead of the Programme:

• Hospital caterers have to conform to nutritional standards as directed by hospital dietitians who assess the nutritional status and requirements of patients. Hospital food is not a one off exercise but planned around a menu cycle which ensures the right balance of nutrients is achieved over a whole day. Where patients require specialised diets, dietitians liaise with caterers to ensure that individual meals are prepared or sourced for those patients, wherever possible. Hospital dietitians, and caterers, adhere to a strict code of practice which is contained in the Dietitians Toolkit - Food Counts! “Delivering Nutritional Care through Food and Beverage Services*¹. This ensures that patients receive the right food for their care.

• The Government’s Better Hospital Food (BHF) Programme, launched in 2002/3 but now disbanded, brought about a big improvement in the standard and choice of hospital meals. Whilst the BHF Panel is no longer active, the objectives of the BHF Programme still need to be met but these are now the responsibility of individual NHS Trusts. As food standards continue to be monitored using the PEAT (Patient Environment Action Teams)*² process, NHS Trusts cannot afford to allow food to slip off their radar. PEAT assessments are carried out on an annual basis to assess the standard of food in individual Trust sites. The most recent PEAT scores* for food in 2010 revealed that 96% of hospitals achieved either good (39%) or excellent (57%). None received poor or unacceptable scores.

• Regardless of whether dishes are prepared in a hospital kitchen on site or prepared off site by another hospital kitchen within the Trust or an outside supplier, all dishes must conform to strict quality standards. Hospital caterers work to a strict standard set by the Care Quality Commission (CQC)*³ which is Outcome 5 - Meeting Nutritional Needs. The Guidance has been jointly set by the CQC and the Royal College of Nursing and is the basis for regular assessments by the CQC of a Trust’s catering services.

• The area where more work must be done to ensure that the standard and quality of food at the point when it leaves the kitchens is the same as when it arrives with the patient on the ward, is in the improvement of inter-clinical and catering team communication. This would help to create better food service on the ward so that patients, for example, do not receive tepid food, the wrong meals or that meals are delivered to patients while they have gone for treatment. More effective systems (such as the red tray system) need to be in place on wards with elderly patients who might need particular nutritional observation, special diets or specially adapted utensils to aid feeding as well as being assisted with eating, if necessary.

• Under the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Principles for Nutrition and Hydration, nursing staff are both responsible and accountable for patients’ nutritional care which means that they have to ensure they receive their food, are able to eat it and assistance given to eat, where required. Whilst a multi-disciplinary team effort is vital to provide effective nutrition and hydration, the catering team are not able to directly serve and present food on the wards. However, a number of hospitals employ Ward Hostesses or Waitresses who can greatly relieve the pressure on nursing staff at mealtimes. They can act as both an interface between the clinical and catering teams and an early warning system. They can ensure that when food arrives on the ward, patients receive it hot and are able to eat it, their nutritional status can be constantly monitored and observations can be fed back to both dietitians and caterers to enable meals/diets to be adjusted, where necessary.

• In this period of economic uncertainty and public spending cuts, NHS budgets are being squeezed with hospital caterers in the position of having to satisfy two ‘masters’ - the hospital patients at one end and the NHS Trust Boards at the other. Caterers are doing their best to create acceptable meals for patients on ever tightening budgets. Freshly sourced ingredients and higher quality food can only be achieved if greater funding is provided, due to the higher costs associated with sourcing and preparing them.

“It would be good to believe that the Channel 4 Dispatches Programme will endeavour to highlight, amongst the negative, some of the positive sides of hospital food because the majority of hospital caterers are making enormous efforts and take great pride in producing the most wholesome, tasty food possible on their budgets. In some cases or wherever possible, they use fresh locally sourced produce and many hospital caterers have won awards and special honours for their excellent work”.

“We all know that is not always possible to please everyone all of the time particularly in the case of longer stay patients but over the last 5-10 years, there has been a considerable increase in patient satisfaction with hospital food and the PEAT findings have continued to bear that out”.

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Contact:
Hazel Green, National Press Officer, HCA
Tel: 01483 574727 E: HaGreen7@aol.com

4 February 2011

Notes:
*1. The Dietitians Toolkit - Food Counts! “Delivering Nutritional Care through Food and Beverage Services” is produced by the British Dietetic Association (BDA). For more information go to http://www.bda.uk.com

*2. Patient Environment Actions Teams (PEAT) is an annual assessment of inpatient healthcare sites in England with more than 10 beds and was established in 2000 as a benchmarking tool to ensure improvements are made in the non-clinical aspects of a patient’s healthcare experience. In 2010, 1242 sites from 323 Trusts took part in the PEAT assessment. For more information, visit the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) website at: www.npsa.nhs.uk

* 3. Quality Care Commission (CQC). For more information go to http://www.cqc.org.uk/guidanceforprofessionals/nhstrusts.cfm and
http://www.cqc.org.uk/publications.cfm?fde_id=16387