02.01.14
Refusal to implement food quality standards ‘appalling and inexplicable’
Hospitals in England should have to meet mandatory food quality guidelines, the Campaign for Better Hospital Food (CBHF) has argued.
But the Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) said that managing the catering service at ward level would be more valuable than specific guidelines.
The CBHF’s new report, published with the union Unison, found that only half the hospitals in England follow a healthy eating policy, and that six out of ten believed the introduction of standards for patient meals in Wales and Scotland had improved their quality.
The report, ‘Keep Hospitals Cooking’, also highlights that one in three hospitals the DH claims are meeting Government Buying Standards are failing to meet criteria on the amount of fairtrade tea and coffee served to patients.
Alex Jackson, co-ordinator of the CBHF, said: “We've had enough of the government using poor excuses and fiddled figures to justify why it won't introduce mandatory quality standards for patient meals. Their refusal to do this is appalling and inexplicable, and is an affront to thousands of hospital patients and to their families.
“Ministers must be living on another planet if they think it's acceptable to set standards to improve meals served to prisoners but not to sick patients.”
But health minister Dan Poulter said: “There are many fantastic examples of really good food across the NHS thanks to forward thinking and innovative staff. But, we recognise that there is too much variation across the country. That is why we have brought in a new inspection programme – led by patients – to help raise standards.
“We have also asked Dianne Jeffrey, chair of Age UK, to head up our food standards panel to look at how to improve standards of hospital food right across the NHS.
“We support the principle of food standards but do not think that legislation is the right way to proceed. We believe that the best decisions on hospital food are those taken locally by chefs and catering managers. Patients are the ones who consume hospital food and they are best placed to decide what is good and what is not.”
Andy Jones, chair of the HCA, agreed that there needs to be “far greater recognition of the nutritional value of food in the treatment of patients” but said: “Concentrating on specifics such as whether hospitals serve fairtrade tea and coffee is not the answer. The key to improving a patient’s nutritional status lies in tackling the bigger picture and this is allowing caterers to manage the whole of the catering service at ward level leaving the nurses and support staff to feed those patients who are most vulnerable and who need assistance to eat.
“There is also too much focus on which cooking methods hospitals adopt. It is far more about providing food that has been prepared with passion and care and is served hot with patients given the necessary help to eat, where needed. A meal has zero nutritional benefit if it cannot be eaten for whatever reason, no matter how fresh or organic its source or what type of catering service is operated.”
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