Hospital staff celebrate Making Mealtimes Matter 2017

As part of our Making Mealtimes Matter 2017 campaign (13-17 March), patients, visitors, staff and members of the public have had the opportunity to sample some of Derriford Hospital's patient food and talk to hospital staff about aspects of nutrition and hydration in the main concourse.

Following on from last year’s success, the event showcases some of the work going on around the Trust to ensure compliance with the Hospital Food Standards and to improve the patients’ mealtime experience.

Liz McGuffog, Hotel Services Service Lead for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “A stay in hospital can be a very anxious time for our patients and this can adversely affect appetites and enjoyment of food, so it is essential we do everything we can to improve the mealtime experience and encourage our patients to eat.

“Nutrition, in conjunction with other initiatives such as protected mealtimes and the use of red lids and trays to ensure patients receive the support they need, are vital to their recovery. Our event this week was all about showcasing how much thought goes into what food is served to patients and how we serve it, how vitally important keeping hydrated is to recovery and the importance of assessing our patients nutritional status on admission and throughout their stay.

“Thanks must go to our local food suppliers and retailers who generously supported our main event and helped make it a great success.”

Making Mealtimes Matter 2017 In addition to the main ‘Taste it Tuesday’ event, other initiatives throughout the week include:

• A special cream tea, which will be served to inpatients on the afternoon of Wednesday 15 March to coincide with The Global Tea Party. The Global Tea Party will see an afternoon tea celebrated around the world. Afternoon tea is being served in health and social care settings, promoting the week, the work organisations do every day and showing how to improve nutritional intake. Our patients will enjoy a cream tea during the afternoon, courtesy of Langage Farm.
• Courtesy of one of our local suppliers, Tamar Fresh, our inpatients will be offered a bottle of water to help raise their awareness of the importance of keeping adequately hydrated.
• Throughout the week, members of our Executive Management Team will once again help with the patients’ lunch service on the wards and observe all of the good work that goes on to ensure the patients receive the right food, at the right time, with the right help and with minimum disruption.