PATIENTS will be offered a "healthy option" every mealtime in a shake-up of hospital catering across NHS Glasgow, with the least popular menu items also axed in a bid to reduce waste.
The overhaul at Scotland's largest health board comes after criticism comparing some of the food being dished out to patients to the "worst of school meals".
The new menu, which will be rolled out from next week, will include a "healthier eating choice" every mealtime, and a lighter option of soup with a sandwich or jacket potato at lunch in response to feedback from patients.
Sandwiches will also be offered at dinner alongside hot meals and puddings such as fruit crumble and custard, with the menu alternating every two weeks.
More choice, less waste as we dish up new patient menu. https://t.co/Wm8JlBCaxs pic.twitter.com/3hcuE9fF3Q
— NHSGGC (@NHSGGC) 8 April 2016
Patients have also been quizzed about their favourite and least popular hospital dishes as part of an extensive survey by catering staff. The least popular meals are being ditched and replaced with new items to cut down on the amount of food sent back to the kitchen.
Following tasting sessions with patients and analysis of uptake data going back five years, cheese and onion quiche, broccoli and cauliflower cheese, and sweet and sour vegetables are facing the chop, while the most highly-rated meals were macaroni cheese, chicken curry and fish pie.
Kate Murray, Head of Catering for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “We have gone to great lengths to give patients exactly what they want and looked at what’s been most popular in the past and dropped the meals which patients were not so keen on.
“As well as carrying out tasting sessions with patients we have listened to them and looked at data going back over five years.
“Nobody likes to see food going to waste and for lots of different reasons we have a responsibility to do everything we can to reduce this. Many people said to us that they would prefer a lighter option in the middle of the day so we have introduced this alongside a traditional meal.”
In the mornings, patients will be served a continental breakfast of cereal or porridge, toast or a bread roll, and fruit juice.
At lunchtime, patients can still opt for a hot meal instead of the new lighter option and a cold dessert will also be served.
Patients can then choose from various hot meals for dinner or a sandwich if they prefer.
As well as a healthy option at every mealtime, there will also be a high calorie nutrient-dense option for patients with low appetites who are at risk of weight loss or need a high energy intake to aid their recovery.
Typically, these meals are targeted at cancer or burns patients, patients with malnutrition, and those who have suffered major trauma such as a head injury.
In 2014, restaurateur David Maguire dubbed the meals served up in NHSGGC's super-kitchens as a "pastiche of food" after reviewing the facilities, and Herald columnist Anne Johnstone began campaigning for better food after her own own experiences being treated for leukaemia.
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