The Potential for Hospitals to Buy Local Food
Tim Radcliffe, Facilities Manager at East Lancashire Hospitals • December 8, 2021
Tim Radcliffe is Facilities Manager at East Lancashire Hospitals. He is also Co-Chair with Alexia Robinson of the Love British Food Hospitals Working Group.
I've worked in the NHS for six years and I'm passionate about using local products.
Before entering the world of NHS catering all my experience has been in the private sector managing hotels and restaurants.
To me when buying your produce, you should be looking for the best quality at a reasonable price, making certain you know as much as you can about that produce, engaging with local suppliers understanding how they have grown the potatoes or how the cattle has been bred and reared this enables you to have far more understanding of the quality of food you're putting on the plate for your patient. It's important there is a relationship built between supplier and customer.
When I joined the NHS, I was surprised how so much of our produce was just bought from catalogues without an understanding of exactly how it got there and how little produce was sourced from local and British suppliers. It is imperative we use produce that enhances our local economy this has proved to be more vital than ever as we seek to reduce the length of our supply chain with so many factors impacting on our choices.
I was told that this was too difficult, that cost always is more important that quality.
This is not true, YES it takes courage, YES it takes perseverance, YES it takes time.
Of course, we need assistance from others and the changes coming in 2022 National Standards for Healthcare Food, revised GBSF, National Food Strategy) will enable all catering managers to open dialogue to begin the journey of positive change.
Yes, we need to ensure that there is free access to supply chains and enabling suppliers to enter the procurement supply chain but essentially Catering managers are the ones who make those decisions, we know what is best for our patients, we know what is best for our budget, we know the quality and the security that a smaller supply chain can give us.
Working in the NHS, specifically in Hospital catering is a very privileged position and it comes with great responsibility, we have been selected and chosen to ensure that quality nutritious meals are prepared for our patients. By utilising quality British and local produce this will enable us to have greater oversight , investing in our local communities .
This is an opportunity for us to really make a difference not just for this generation but for generations to come.
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