Hospitals

Our Journey So Far

Yeovil District Hospital (YDH) are committed to improving the care experience for their patients, staff, and visitors. They have an innovative approach to improving meal provision, with a special focus on tackling malnutrition and dehydration, streamlining meal delivery, and enhancing both the patient and customer experience. Through strategic improvements in menu design, waste management, and patient-centric service, the hospital catering team has successfully met the challenge of providing nutritious, appealing meals that cater to the diverse needs of the hospital community. As part of their commitment to sustainability, a comprehensive waste reduction initiative that targets food waste at all stages of meal provision—from kitchen preparation to patient plated and unserved meals was introduced. By partnering with food service providers and leveraging technology, they implemented real-time waste tracking, allowing them to identify inefficiencies and reduce unnecessary food wastage. Additionally, they transitioned to biodegradable, recyclable meal packaging, reducing their carbon footprint and contributing to the hospital’s broader environmental goals. The Catering team have come a long way in recent years, demonstrating fantastic improvement for not only patients, staff but also visitors, with many changes including waste, improving service levels and patient/customer experiences. The in-house service has seven chefs at working YDH included in the team of over 40 staff, the Catering department has grown in recent years with the influence from new management with Catering and Hospitality background. The use of local and seasonal provisions are used to write menus for both patients, staff and visitors, has not only reduced costs but also reduced Caterings carbon footprint & sustainability in food, the catering team work closely with suppliers in the KPI monthly meetings to talk about seasonal provisions Regular monthly meets between the Catering and the Dietitians was implemented back in 2018 and has paid dividends, with both departments working closer together for patient nutrition and hydration, the chefs work with the dietitians on menus to make sure there is a well-balanced menu (remember food is medicine) the newly appointed Catering Liaison Officer (CLO) in 2023 is the link between the Catering and Dietitians but also the patients. The CLO carries out weekly surveys from staff and visitors, including speaking directly with the patients on the wards, this has allowed the Catering team to make changes by listening to the feedback, it gives the team a better understanding of what is and isn’t liked from the most popular meals to the not so popular meals and what sides of vegetables go with what main courses, this also helps with portion sizes and waste, there is also a suggestion box in the staff canteen as well as QR codes for feedback. Menus at YDH are written 8 days in advance by the chefs, with the use of seasonal provisions, using local British ingredients from local suppliers. The chefs working closely with the Dietitians in the monthly meetings, write varied well-balanced menus, dried herbs are banned in the kitchen with the chefs having their own herb garden outside in the seating area. The patient-centric strategy focuses on creating the environment where the needs, preferences, and experiences of patients are at the heart of every decision made. This approach improves outcomes, enhances patient satisfaction, and drives better care delivery, the team commitment is consistently communicated of the importance of a patient-centred approach which will keep improving patient outcomes and experiences. The Catering team have regular training sessions, encouraging staff to take an active role in enhancing the patient experience by providing them the tools and autonomy to solve patient issues quickly and effectively, by phone or in person. Part of the Catering Liaison’s Officers role is to work with not only dietitians but clinical staff, working together on patients care plans, which includes their nutrition and hydration. A newly refurbished staff canteen called the Breeze Café offers a clean, quiet, and accessible facilities including a garden (in the summer) for staff, visitors and patients to visit and enjoy the talented chefs’ delights, from the Deli-bar to Asian Thursday and a fantastic carvery with three meats and proper homemade gravy every Wednesday and Sunday is a must try. Focusing on mealtimes, the Catering team work closely with the Housekeepers who serve the food at ward level ensuring the service of meal times run as smooth as possible, with late meals being delivered for any patient outside of lunch or supper times, digital meal time ordering as close to meal times not only ensures the patient gets what they ordered, it has helped reduce food waste and efficiency. The development of a QR code system where patients can look at the coming weeks menu, with pictures and nutritional information will be rolled out for 2025.

At Milton Keynes University Hospital prioritising patient catering has been a longstanding commitment. Whether it is a parent who has just given birth, a child recovering from surgery or an individual recuperating from a stroke, it is vital that everyone is offered a wide range of appetising and nutritious meal options during their hospital stay.

Since I joined the trust, we have changed the way in which we prepare food and design our menus. We try and use some of the traditional British favourites in our menus that are both heartwarming and tasty, sometimes they can bring a little nostalgia to our day. We work closely with our suppliers to ensure that the ingredients we cook with have originated from within the UK. We love British and are passionate about sourcing from within the UK. The challenges are real, and the NHS framework can sometimes cause obstacles to get these local products in our hospitals. Since celebrating ‘Love British’ fortnight, we have made a lot of changes. We sourced a British ice cream manufacturer that makes ice-cream on their farm using their own milk.  We then moved away from a meat supplier over 200 miles away and sourced one more local. Our beef and pork are from farms in surrey, our lamb is reared in the west country, and our chicken is red tractor approved from farms in Shropshire. We continue to use this supplier and I am still looking for one even more local to Milton keynes. Our greatest local supplier is our fruit and veg company, AB Fruits. Having worked locally when I was a chef, AB Fruits were always my go-to supplier, they buy local and supply local. We get cauliflowers from Sharnbrook, courgettes from Bromham, salad onions from Pershore lettuce, celery from Ely and potatoes from Suffolk. These products are all grown in the UK by British farmers, you can’t get much better than that. We have now started to use seasonal local produce to make our daily special. We create the dish the day before, using what the land has to offer. We received squashes from Sharnbrook last week and they went on our menu in the form of a squash risotto topped with fresh rocket, parmesan and crispy bacon pieces. I had a long and happy career as a Chef before my Catering Manager role here at MKUH. I have always been passionate about cooking tasty, amazing food with love and I pour my passion into trying to influence change in where we buy our food from. I also try and pass on my passion onto my Chef Team. I am lucky to work in an organisation that is open to ideas and trying new things. With the backing of our Exec team at MKUH we introduced healthier food options to staff for a cheaper price than the unhealthier choices. For example, our fish at chips is £4.95 and our healthy noodle live cook is only £2.00. We encourage our team to make the healthier choice. We have received new restaurant counters and new equipment for our chefs to cook with. We are proud of what we offer, and I would love to now see other organisations do the same. I would love the opportunity for British local farmers near my trust to come and approach local trust’s directly to buy what they picked yesterday, and I hope soon we could have someone in my position having the one-to-one relationship with the local farmers and flow their products straight to a patient’s plate. My vision and aspirations for MKUH is to have a fresh cook kitchen for our patients and to be even more influential in what patients eat.

About us  Established in 2002, School Milk Services were originally incorporated to supply milk solely to schools across the South West for children under 5. Over the years, we grew the business and started to supply children over 5 with milk, alongside serving businesses such as Hotels, Care Homes, Kitchens, Café’s and more.

British Food Fortnight, which is the biggest national celebration of British food on the nation’s calendar, took place between September and October. As part of the campaign, together with YDH, we promoted the many British products already on our menus.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (FT) runs community services, mental health and learning disability services across Somerset, as well as acute hospital services from both Musgrove Park and Yeovil Hospitals, and a quarter of Somerset’s GP practices.

Iain's impressive track record of sourcing British - flexibility, engagement and a collective approach