Hospital Catering (Hansard, 7 May 2003)

§ Baroness Andrews
My Lords, as with all hospitals, decisions on the systems to be used to provide catering services at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital are for the individual trust to make.

§ Earl Ferrers
My Lords, I do not think the noble Baroness can get away with it quite as easily as that. The Government take great pride in what happens in the hospital system and she must be concerned, I would have thought, to realise that £230 million is spent on building a new hospital which apparently does not have any kitchens. Or does it have kitchens which are not used? Presumably all the dishes that come up from Colchester, full of food, including porridge—because even porridge has to be cooked in Colchester—have to go back to Colchester again to be washed up and refilled. Can the noble Baroness say how many road movements, as the Civil Service would say, there are between Colchester and Norwich in bringing the food?

§ Baroness Andrews
My Lords, the noble Earl is quite right: I am concerned and I certainly do not intend to give him a flippant answer. To answer the last part of his Question first, I understand that every day the food is delivered from Colchester—that is one journey a day. The hospital is brand new, as he knows, built to a PFI contract, and it has opted for the cook-chill method of delivered food. It does not sound very appetising but it is. It means that the food is prepared outside but it is fresh food created to the highest possible quality standards. Because it is delivered in that way, we have a guarantee about that. It offers more choice for patients. The noble Earl is quite right that we are very concerned to increase quality and choice to patients. Hospital food has not been good; we want to make it better. That is why we have introduced the better food programme in hospitals.

Lord Renton
My Lords, can the noble Baroness say how many hours elapse between the cooking of the food at Colchester and its consumption in a hospital at Norwich? How much does it cost to transport that food from the one place to the other?

§ Baroness Andrews
My Lords, the food is cooked and chilled, so what is crucial is that when it reaches the hospital and is reheated in the kitchen, it arrives on the ward hot and appetising, something to which the patients can look forward. I cannot tell the noble Lord about the transport costs, but if I can find a figure I certainly will let him know.

§ Baroness Pitkeathley
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the most important thing from the patients' point of view is not where the meal is prepared or even how it is prepared but its taste and the variety that is available to them? Could she therefore expand a little on her answer about the better hospital food programme, particularly in relation to the choice available to patients?

§ Baroness Andrews
My Lords, the whole purpose of the better hospital food programme which was introduced in the NHS Plan in 2000 was to put taste, quality and flavour back into hospital food. Among the initiatives that have been introduced over the past couple of years are snack boxes so that people who miss meals when they go to surgery have a nice meal when they return. What we are really proud of—I have here a visual aid—are the menus in which three dishes a day on offer in every hospital are designed by leading chefs. For example, Loyd Grossman is leading our panel implementing the programme. Some of the dishes are absolutely delicious, such as cauliflower cheese with extra cheesy sauce or sticky toffee pudding.

A Noble Lord
More!

§ Baroness Andrews
That is just the sort of thing, my Lords, that we see and enjoy in our own Dining Room.

§ Baroness Noakes
My Lords, in the NHS Plan there was a commitment to introduce 24-hour catering by 1089 December 2001, including the snack boxes to which the Minister referred. Can she explain why only 60 per cent of hospitals have introduced snack boxes and why not all hospitals have yet introduced 24-hour catering?

§ Baroness Andrews
My Lords, we set ambitious targets because we knew that patients really appreciate good food in hospitals. It proved difficult to meet those targets, but I am delighted to say that we are making progress all the time with 24-hour catering, ward kitchens and snack boxes. Two additional snacks a day are available on the wards for patients and a really nice hot meal in the evening. So we are making very good progress.

§ Lord Walpole
My Lords, where does this leave the Answer given last week to the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, by the Minister of Agriculture about the use of local food produced within 30 miles of where it is consumed?

§ Baroness Andrews
My Lords, the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency is anxious to involve as many local suppliers as possible. They are supporting that in different ways; for example, the PASA speaks of supplier events. It produces booklets and information and supports the DTI, regional development agencies and small business services. We are very anxious to play a part in sustainable development in that way.

§ Lord Addington
My Lords, I declare an interest as a local boy. Hearing that food must be transported across the eastern counties to our newer hospitals, I wonder whether the Government are aware that we have "beautifully tender turkeys"—I believe that was the expression—in Norfolk. We also have an excellent catering department in Norwich City College. Are those assets not being under-utilised in this process?

§ Baroness Andrews
My Lords, I would very much like to see those local assets being used as part of the cook-chill experience. It would be excellent if we could get the local college involved. Because we are looking for innovation and choice, we are prepared to consider several different ways in which best to do things.

§ Baroness Sharples
My Lords, the noble Baroness said that there was no kitchen at the hospital. I assume that they must use a large number of microwaves.

§ Baroness Andrews
My Lords, I did not say that there was no kitchen. It is a particular type of kitchen that can cater for reheating large quantities of meals. Each ward has a little kitchen where snacks can be prepared.

§ Lord Tanlaw
My Lords, is there not a simple solution to this problem, offered yesterday at Question Time? We could serve more corned beef.