Hospital food swap could save up to £300,000 a year
Norfolk Primary Care Trust is to review the current catering arrangements at Swaffham Community Hospital after a decision to end its in-house services to hospitals in the Norwich area.
On Tuesday the PCT board agreed that from January it would transfer catering arrangements from its in-house services to Cambridge-based company Anglia Support Partnership, which will provide ready-prepared meals.
But at Swaffham meals have been prepared and cooked at the Sporle Road premises by Norfolk County Services under a separate arrangement.
Yesterday a trust spokesman said: "The PCT intends to review the current catering provision at Swaffham hospital in the light of the exercise to move from in-house catering to Anglia Support Partnership.
This review is likely to take place shortly."
Meals produced by the Cambridge company will be rapidly chilled and transported to the Norfolk hospitals up to 36 hours before consumption by patients.
The move will save the PCT about 300,000 a year from the 1.1 million annual cost of providing catering services in-house – but it could mean up to 46 kitchen staff would be made redundant.
Mark Taylor, the PCT's director of provider services, said: "Patients will not be affected as the proposal goes ahead to transfer catering services to ASP, an outside provider, as opposed to in-house. Detailed work has been carried out by the PCT to ensure that this would be an appropriate change. The food patients and staff receive in hospital or community homes will remain high quality and of good nutritional content."
Swaffham Hospital's League of Friends' chairman David Gulliver said: "The feedback I get is that they value having freshly-cooked meals provided at Swaffham Hospital. I don't think I have ever had an adverse comment about the food."
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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