Hospital food is much better

Patients are giving the thumbs-up to food that was once on the sick list, says Sue Austin.

Fish and parsley sauce, mashed potatoes and green beans was one of my grandma's signature dishes and I didn't think anyone could come close to cooking it as well as she did.

But the fish and parsley sauce I had at Shropshire's orthopaedic hospital came very, very, close. In fact – and I feel very disloyal saying this – the sauce was probably better!

If you have spent any time in hospital you will know how important meal times can be.

Once you are on the road to recovery a day can seem an awfully long time, and mealtimes can be one of the few things to look forward to.

Sadly, the food is what most people complain about in hospital. That is, unless you happen to be at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital at Gobowen, near Oswestry. It has been named the best in Britain for its food . . . by the patients themselves.

The hospital was given the best rating in the Care Quality Commission survey of 164 hospitals across Britain for its food.

It also emerged a clear winner in three other categories – patients' confidence in doctors, clear medication instructions, and minimal delay when being discharged. Three more where it tied with other hospitals for top spot included overall patient care and confidence.

Satisfaction with hospital care is a tremendous coup for any hospital. But many patients, especially those having routine operations or procedures will still judge a hospital on its food.

The orthopaedic kitchens are busy more than 12 hours a day, starting at around 6am preparing breakfasts and still cleaning up long after the 5pm evening meal.

The staff are headed by Michael Norris, who arrived at the orthopaedic after a career in the army catering for a whole gamut of people, from hungry soldiers to royalty.

Today he is responsible for making sure than hundreds of meals leave the kitchen hot and tasty, appealing to people of all ages, from the very small, to the very old.

"We prepare meals for about 200 patients on the wards each day and for staff and visitors in Denbigh's restaurant. We also prepare meals for more than 50 children in the Peter Pan nursery and provide meals on wheels for the local community," he says.

Patients chose their food from a daily menu 48 hours in advance, a must when catering for so many people.

The day I visited I could have chosen the fish, turkey and stuffing or a vegetarian sausage after my fruit juice or celery soup. Alternatively I could have had meat salad or pasta vegetable salad, or a choice of sandwiches. Desserts included apple pie, rice pudding, pineapple or other fruit, ice cream or yoghurts.

Albert Wright was very complimentary about the fish, describing the mash as lump-free and the portion size generous.

"I had an operation here 10 years ago. The food was good then, it's even better now. It was one of the reasons, as well as the care you get here, that I asked to come back when I needed another operation."

Sandwich

In the next bed was Mark Taylor, who was tucking into a sandwich. He is a physiotherapist at Blackpool hospital and admits that it has a long way to go to meet the orthopaedic's standards.

"When I arrived I expected to have the meal the person in the bed before me had chosen. But I was allowed to chose from the buffet trolley. The food here is definitely a better standard than in Blackpool."

That serving trolley is the biggest change in the hospital's food over the past decade. Previously meals were plated up individually on ugly, heat-retaining plastic food trays then taken to the wards in warming cabinets. Today they are served up on real plates on the wards from the trolleys – time consuming for the staff but much appreciated by patients.

Evening time also brings a hot meal choice as well as sandwiches, and also a snack to keep for later.

Ringing the changes can be difficult when such a wide range of people are patients, and Mike admits to sticking to traditional food.

"We do however offer a different menu for those in the children's ward and also in the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries, where patients can be for many months. They can choose more snack type foods, like quality burgers. But we don't have junk food – there are no turkey twizzlers here."

As well as the patients, the catering staff also prepare the food for Denbigh's, the orthopaedic's own restaurant, which is open to the public.

On the day I visited, Denbigh's had the patient choice as well as traditional fish and chips and other offerings, all at reasonable prices.

There is also the popular salad bar, serving an extremely appetising selection of salads which you can have with cold meat or perhaps a vegetarian quiche, or simply on their own in a "fill as full as you can" container.

Sandwiches are also available, making it an incredibly busy time for those in the kitchens who prepare around 450 sandwiches a day!