08.05.07
Hospital meals shock! Patients actually like hospital food
- if it's local, fresh and organic
A pioneering partnership between the Soil Association and
NHS Trusts in Cornwall is revolutionising hospital food. "Over
boiled, soggy and nasty" meals have been transformed
into patient pleasing menus that are providing good nutrition,
boosting the local economy, cutting unnecessary food miles,
and supporting sustainable farming and food production.
Today's report, 'A fresh approach to hospital
food', summarises the remarkable achievements of the
award winning Cornwall Food Programme which has succeeded
in providing tasty hospital meals, made from fresh local and
organic ingredients, to patients, without increasing costs,
countering the alarming national picture of poor take-up and
inadequate nutrition from hospital meals.
The scandalous state of school dinners, as revealed by the
Soil Association's Food for Life campaign and greatly
boosted by Jamie Oliver's involvement, has received
much media and public attention, leading to improvements.
Hospital food has also been the subject of much public and
political hand wringing, but to date few significant or lasting
improvements have been achieved, despite the Government's
much hyped Better Hospital Food initiative headed-up by food
critic and broadcaster, Loyd Grossman.
In contrast, the Cornwall Food Programme is succeeding in:
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Pleasing patients: National surveys show 37% of patients
leave hospital meals because they look, smell or taste
unappealing. In contrast, 92% of patients served through
the Cornwall project describe the food on offer as 'very
good' or 'excellent'. Consumption of fish-cakes, previously
made from frozen, compressed fish trucked from Grimsby
(described by one patient as 'hard and tasty as a hockey
ball') has risen dramatically since switching to locally-caught
fresh fish and locally grown potatoes. Actual fish content
also increased from 30% to 40%. |
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Boosting the local economy: As well as providing fresher,
more nutritious food by sourcing food locally the programme
is supporting the local economy: 83% of the Royal Cornwall
Hospitals Trust's 2006 food budget was spent with companies
based in Cornwall, totalling £910,000. Previously
60% of the budget was spent outside Cornwall. [5] |
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Cutting Food Miles: Overall the programme has cut annual
food miles by 67%. Previously food was travelling 164,042
miles to reach patients, by switching to local suppliers
that has been reduced to 53,596 miles. |
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Keeping to budget: All of this and more has been achieved
without increasing costs overall, keeping within the Royal
Cornwall Hospital's budget of £2.50 per day - showing
local, fresh and organic meals could be served up by the
NHS UK-wide.
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HRH Prince Charles, as Royal Patron of the Soil Association
and with his strong interest and support for the region through
the Duchy of Cornwall, welcomed the success of the Cornwall
Food Programme: "This shows what can be achieved
within the very real constraints of NHS budgets and the rules
governing public procurement contracts. Contrary to what some
believe, it is generally the case that what is good for the
environment is also good for our health, and good for business."
Peter Melchett, Soil Association Policy Director, said: "What
has been achieved in Cornwall's hospitals is truly remarkable,
but readily repeatable across the UK. The Cornwall Food Programme
shows that the Soil Association's Food For Life targets
of getting 75% unprocessed, 50% local and 30% organic ingredients
into school and hospital food could be served up by the NHS
UK-wide, whilst keeping within the modest food budget of £2.50
per patient.
"The programme is delivering a triple dose of benefits:
decent food that helps patients recover; a boost to the local
economy, sustaining the livelihoods of local fishermen, farmers
and food producers, and a cut in food miles, so helping curb
climate change that threatens the health of us all. The government
should ensure this beacon of best practice is taken up by
every hospital across Britain."
Mike Pearson, Cornwall Food Programme Project Leader, said:
"It is my belief that NHS Trusts have a significant
role to play within their local community and this is an example
of a partnership that has benefited all concerned. What we
see now is the ending of the first chapter, now that work
has started on the construction of the Central Food Production
Unit (CFPU) we will in the future be able to increase the
number of local and organic food suppliers still further."
Both the Cornwall Food Programme (which was set up by the
Cornwall Partnership Trust and is supported by all three of
Cornwall's Health Trusts) and the Central Food Production
Unit have received investment from Objective One EAGGF (European
Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund).
Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Objective One Partnership,
said: "Good quality, locally grown food is a successful
recipe for healthy communities. This report endorses the confidence
Objective One has had in the Cornwall Food Programme and the
national praise it has already received."
It all started with a sandwich…
In 2001, a patient at the West Cornwall Hospital complained
his sandwich wasn't only unappetising, it wasn't
local either, coming all the way from Oxford. This got the
catering manager thinking: why transport food over 250 miles
if we can source a fresher, tastier, sandwich locally?
Patient surveys reinforced the instinct to go local. The
results clearly showed that patients preferred meals freshly
prepared in the hospital kitchens to those from a national
supplier. "Exceptionally good", praises one patient,
"The best hospital food I have ever come across",
enthuses another.
For further information please contact Clio Turton, Soil
Association press office, on 0117 914 2448/07747 021 117 or
email press@soilassociation.org.
The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the
Isles of Scilly has invested in the Cornwall Food Programme
and the Central Food Production Unit through the European
Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF).
Editor's notes:
| 1. |
Simon Eccles, then chairman of the junior doctors'
committee of the British Medical Association, voiced
the concerns of NHS professionals in 2005: "Patients
aren't getting enough fruit and vegetables and what
they do get is often over boiled, soggy and nasty."
A report published last year by the Commission for
Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) found
that hospital patients were still being provided with
food that was not what they wanted and served at the
wrong temperature, with unappetising meals being left
uneaten and supplemented by food brought in by family
and friends. Based on a national survey of over 2,200
patients, the CPPIH reported that 37% of patients had
left meals because they looked, smelled or tasted unappetising. |
| 2. |
'A Fresh Approach to Hospital Food - The Cornwall Food
Programme pioneering tasty, healthier and more environmentally
friendly hospital meals', will be launched on Tuesday
8 May 2007, 11am to 1pm at the Knowledge Spa, Treliske.
For more info contact Organic South West on 01208 79888
or osw@soilassociation.org. |
| 3. |
The Cornwall NHS food programme was runner up in the
'Ethical Contribution Award' category for the Observer
Food Awards 2007. Mike Pearson, Cornwall Food Programme
project leader, was shortlisted for the Hospital Caterer
of the Year and Roy Heath, Sustainable Food Development
Manager, won first prize in the Newcomer of the Year category
for his work on local and organic food procurement. Other
awards include: awarded Gold for 'Best Local Food Initiative'
in the Soil Association Organic Food Awards 2006; Highly
Commended 2005 in the Government Opportunities Awards;
Highly Commended November 2004 in the Health Service Journal;
Highly Commended 2002 and 2004 in the Building Better
Healthcare Awards. |
| 4. |
A recent Which? survey found only 18 per cent of
NHS patients were satisfied with the overall quality
of the food provided and Age Concern warned last year
that six out of ten older people were at risk of becoming
malnourished or their situation getting worse, in hospital.
Malnourished patients tend to stay longer in hospital,
experience more complications and are at greater risk
of dying than well-fed patients with the same illness,
so it's vital that people receive good quality food
when ill.
Diet-related illness costs the economy up to £7.4
billion a year in medical care and working days lost.
A Royal College of Nursing (RCN) report revealed that
nearly half of UK nurses (42 per cent) say they do not
have enough time during their working day to ensure
patients get good nutrition. |
| 5. |
In 2004 the Chief Medical Officer threw his weight
behind sustainable procurement in his annual report:
"Public sector organisations are major employers,
purchasers and service providers…public sector
food procurement and provision policies as well as practices
could make a real contribution to improving the health
of our country and to sustainable development."
The NHS spends over £500 million on food every
year, serving over 300 million meals in about 1,200
hospitals. |
Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439
cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk
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