New menu and food service launches at Shrewsbury hospital
A new menu and food service has been launched at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to give inpatients more choice.
The number of hot food choices will double from two to four per meal – and a new hostess service means that patients will be personally served so that they can choose their preferred portion size.
The introduction of the new food service by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs RSH and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, follows feedback from patients who said that they would like to see more choice.
It is already in place at PRH and has been rolled out at RSH following a successful pilot on ward 27, which received positive comments from both patients and staff.
Trish Purfit, senior catering manager at SaTH, said: “We are delighted to have launched this new and improved food service which will give our patients a safe, nutritious and enjoyable meal experience.
“The new food service incorporates a new patient menu and a hostess service provided by our catering staff which will enable patients to have more choice.
"There will be four main courses at lunch and dinner for patients to choose from, and they can also select a small, medium or large portion.
"They can make their selections the same day, rather than the day before, which means we can cater for how they are feeling that particular day.
“There will also be special menus, including special diets, allergy and ethnic.
"The new menus will be made available in different languages, large print and easy read format to support patients accessing food choice information.
“Everyone has been tremendously enthusiastic in championing the new service, and the feedback that we have had back so far is very positive.”
Julia Clarke, director of corporate services at SaTH, said: “Providing good quality, nutritious food is a very important part of the care we provide to our patients, and so this improvement to our food service and menus at RSH is very much welcomed.
“We will continue to listen to feedback about our menus and the food that we serve, and we will be introducing regular food tasting sessions involving patient representatives.”
