§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health who was responsible for drawing up the nutritional quality standards for hospital food included in the official NHS recipe book. [24686]
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§ Ms Blears[holding answer 8 January 2002]: The national health service recipe book, issued in May 2001 as part of the better hospital food programme, requires hospitals to meet estimated average requirements for food energy, and reference nutrient intake for all other nutrients. These standards were set by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy, now known as the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to enable patient feedback on the standard and quality of the food they are being served from the NHS recipe book. [24624]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 8 January 2002]: Hospitals currently undertake surveys to gain feedback from patients on the standard of their catering services. However, these surveys are designed and implemented locally, do not take a consistent form and do not allow for comparisons to be drawn.
To address this, the better hospital food panel is developing a national patient catering survey. This will ask a range of questions which have been designed through detailed consultation with patients about the standards of service they expect and will complement the questions on catering which will be included in the national patient survey. It will be issued as part of a new "Catering in a modernised NHS" manual of advice and guidance which will be issued to the national health service in 2002.