Hospital kitchens have right recipe (From The Oxford Times)

Hospital kitchens have right recipe

6:00pm Friday 30th July 2010 in

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THE words “hospital food” may conjure up images of dried sandwiches, sludgy peas and cold soup.

But the meals being served in Oxfordshire’s community hospitals are just what the doctor ordered, according to NHS watchdogs.

In a recent assessment, four of the eight hospitals were rated excellent, the highest mark, for their food, while three got the next best mark of good.

Community hospitals care for people who are recovering after treatment, surgery or serious illness.

At Didcot Community Hospital, in Wantage Road, staff believe basic is best. Every day patients at the hospital are treated to simple home-cooked meals made fresh on site by two full-time chefs.

A typical day will start with cereal and fruit, except for Wednesdays and Sundays, when the kitchen prepares a cooked breakfast of egg, sausage, bacon, tomato and toast, washed down with tea or coffee.

At patients’ request they serve the main meal of the day at lunchtime, followed by a lighter supper in the evening.

Ward manager Helen Reynolds said lunches were typically meat and seasonal vegetables in the winter, and home-made fish and chips, quiches and salads in the summer.

She said that all the meals were balanced nutritionally and took into account guidelines on salt, fat and calorie intake.

Ms Ward added: “It’s all made fresh on site and I think that’s why our patients think it tastes better.

“Because typically we treat a lot of older people here, they told us they prefer to eat their main meal at lunchtime, followed by a lighter meal in the evening, things like sandwiches, soups and jacket potatoes.”

Patient George Brown, 85, of Didcot, said he liked the fact he could go back for more if he wanted to.

Mr Brown said: “The best dinner I had here was roast beef.

“Hospital food gets a bad reputation but in here it’s very good.

“I like the fact that you can ask for bigger portion sizes and I can ask for seconds.”

The hospital was given its excellent ranking by the Patient Environment Action Teams programme, which every year assesses all hospitals and in-patient units with 10 or more beds.

Bicester and Didcot both retained to their excellent ranking from last year, while Abingdon and Chipping Norton hospitals improved from a good rating to be given the highest commendation for their food.

Wallingford and Wantage kept their good rating from last year’s assessment and Henley’s Townlands Hospital was also ranked good.

Witney received an acceptable rating.

Karen Campbell, service Manager of Community Health Oxfordshire, which runs the hospitals, said: “We’re very pleased with these results.

“These scores reflect the ongoing investment by the organisation, along with the hard work being undertaken by our staff to ensure that our sites meet the expectations of our patients.

“Where improvements can be made, we will continue to work hard and strive for excellent ratings across the board at the next assessment.”