HOSPITAL catering staff presented their ‘improving hospital food development’ strategy to a Westminster Briefing Group.

During the presentation, Dave Passant, Estates and Facilities Divisional General Manager at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) showed how guidance and recommendations had been translated into best practice.

Mr Passant and his team discussed how UHMBT had removed all full sugar drinks from its restaurants and made the snack vending machines 80 per cent sugar free. Unhealthy snacks have also been removed from restaurant till points.

Restaurant menus are also colour coded using a traffic light system to better inform people when they are choosing from the menu.

“Over the last few years UHMBT has improved inpatient meals by delivering and serving them on wards rather than plating them up beforehand," said Mr Passant. "Currently patients and staff use a paper ordering system to pre-order patients’ meals a day in advance.

“But recently, working with the nursing and dietitian teams at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, we ran a one month trial where patients could order their food on the same day giving them the ability to tailor their meals to how they felt on the day.”

During the trial staff worked with patients helping them order their meals using iPads that were already in place as part of the electronic patient records (EPR) system. The new ordering system allows meals to ‘follow the patient’ should they be transferred to another ward, as well as providing for swift cancellations if they are discharged.

As a result nurses saved 20 minutes per day and the new electronic system not only saved on printing costs but also helped cut down on food waste within the catering department. If a patient is discharged out of hours, a take home food bag is made available. These bags ensure patients will be able to have food and a hot drink once they arrive home.

“I’m very pleased with the how the trial went at RLI and we hope to roll out the electronic ordering system across the three main UHMBT sites in the next three months," said Mr Passant. "Only four trusts were invited to present their work at the conference and I’m so pleased that UHMBT was one of them and that we were able to share recent developments and approaches in the Bay with colleagues from across the country.”