Hospital food: raise standards, cut costs

Mention the phrase ‘hospital food’ to most people and the response is likely to be one of displeasure, with the belief that these mass-produced meals are procured at a pretty measly cost per patient per day. I was rather surprised, therefore, to read in a report by Hall (2019), that the Government has called upon the NHS to reduce spending on food and drink, in particular breakfast products, where it is believed that savings could total £420 000 a year on this meal alone. The Government has claimed that hospital trusts could get much better deals on breakfast items without compromising quality and has encouraged hospitals to sign up to a new deal that plans to save hospitals thousands of pounds on catering services. The ‘Breakfast Savings Initiative’ aims to reduce the variation in prices paid by different trusts and currently has 19 trusts participating.