Hospital food and nutrition
Hospital food standards: what do they really mean to you? The new hospital food standards only cover England, with the other three nations having their own standards currently in place or in the process of being reviewed. But what is so pleasing and different this time is that they have all involved those who are delivering the service, from nurses to dietitians to caterers. Andy Jones Chairman of Hospital Caterers Association, ISS Facilities Services (Healthcare)
However, to me it’s about not what we say but what we do that is more important. Let me explain what I mean by this. It’s great having the standards, but we have to ensure that they are followed and that we are all committed to them from bottom to top and vice versa, but above all, they must meet the NEEDS of the PATIENTS we serve. Of course, the standards include areas which impact on the social welfare of the staff working within our Trusts and, of course, the patient’s visitors. This is a key area; as we all know, well-looked after and well-nourished staff members are better able to look after the patients. The key elements - required standards
Andy has been a stalwart of patient catering for over 30 years, with the key influence being the delivery of a nutritious and wholesome food and hydration service at ward level. He has been one of the key leads in the Nutritional and Hydration weeks and currently sits on the Government-led Hospital Food Panel. Andy is also a member of the cost sector caterers’ top 20 public sector caterers.
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Patient catering EATING FOR GOOD HEALTH • 10 key characteristics of good nutritional care, Nutrition Alliance • Nutrition and Hydration Digest, The British Dietetic Association • Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool or equivalent (BAPEN) Staff and visitor catering HEALTHY EATING • Healthier and More Sustainable Catering – Nutrition Principles (Public Health England) All catering • Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services, HMG standards developed by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
NHDmag.com May 2015 - Issue 104
We all know that the standard of catering in hospitals is a very high priority and sadly, one of the things not reflected in the report is that food and drink is an integral part of the patient’s recovery plan and I will continue to campaign for this; after all, food is the best form of medicine. One area within the standard that we ALL have to ensure is in place, is a trust-wide Board-led FOOD and DRINK POLICY, which is essential and involves a multidisciplinary team including dietitians and caterers, but must be the responsibility of the Director of Nursing to ensure its delivery. I am convinced that by working together in implementing this plan, we will succeed in the final outcome. Yes, there are issues and we understand that we will never be able to appease (or satisfy) everybody, but what we have to do is to get the basics right and I believe this standard incorporates the potential to do just that. So what can dietitians do?
Nothing that they do not do already, i.e. work closely with the catering team and patients. After all, we all have our favourite foods when we’re not feeling well, whether it’s a bowl of soup or rice pudding; we naturally gravitate to comfort foods and that is what patients do when in hospital. Patients don’t come into hospital to be adventurous; they come in knowing that the progress of their recovery will be based around nutritious foods which will help them. The new Hospital Food Plan goes a
