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The new chairwoman of the Hospital Caterers Association has admitted hospitals are receiving less money to
feed patients than is spent
on prisoners.
Janice gillan was responding to figures released earlier this year, which suggested that more than double is spent on meals for Britain's inmates. Says Janice: "It is true that £3 a day £1 per meal - is what a lot of hospital caterers are working with to provide nutritionally analysed meals.
"Working to budget cuts is a constant juggling act - particularly when the cost of food is rising. "We want to always maintain the quality of food we are serving. In the current financial climate, we have to look at other areas to avoid affecting patient meals, for example dining rooms, meals on wheels and services for the local authority." Janice took over from Kevan Wallace as HCA chief in March this year.
She has 30 years experience within the NHS, beginning as a trainee cook. her present job involves responsibility for catering services within the 700-bed Crosshouse hospital in Scotland and managing a departmental budget of £4.5 million for salaries and supplies and an income of £1.5 million. Figures from the nhS Information Centre suggest food budgets overall have dropped by as much as 62 per cent at hospitals in england compared with five years ago.
The NHS spends around half a billion pounds on catering each year - yet the numbers of hospital patients becoming malnourished have doubled in three years.
around one in five trusts has reduced spending on food since 2004-05, with 36 out of 191 cutting back, according to figures analysed from NHS Information Centre data.
The figures show St George's hospital, South lLondon, spent the least - just £1.04 on each meal or £3.11 a day - when it used to spend £6.67 a day. But a spokesman disputed the 53 per cent drop, saying the figure covered only the costs to the catering department. When snacks, drinks, dietary supplements and late meal requests are included the figure is £6.80 a day. a spokeswoman for the British association of Parenteral and enteral nutrition (BAPEN), said it was 'outrageous' that NHS hospital patients fared worse at mealtimes than criminals.
She says: "Nutrition care in hospitals is about more than just the food quality, and not enough is being spent on it. "Screening, assessment and support are all vital, as patients need to be treated as individuals and where necessary given help to eat the food put in front of them. "We're wasting money in the long run because of a failure to get these policies right. "This isn't a new problem, there have been disjointed attempts to address it but the problem remains that it's an easy target for the finance team" she added.
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