Dec15Written by:Editor
15/12/2011 
On Thursday 15 December His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales praised the quality of food provided to service users by St Andrew’s Healthcare. He made the comments during a reception hosted at Clarence House to congratulate fourteen hospitals for their work to provide excellent food.
The Soil Association selected the hospitals for this celebration of the best of British hospital food.
Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director, Professor Philip Sugarman, and Gareth Waters, Restaurants and Catering Manager, represented St Andrew’s Healthcare.
After the event Philip Sugarman said: “We know that food plays an important role in the lives of the people who use our services and it makes a real difference to them if they can look forward to meals that they enjoy.
“Satisfaction levels of 80% and above speak for themselves and our catering teams can be rightly proud of what they have achieved. They have received six national awards in the last two years, recognising the amazing things they have done, such as finding just over half of our food ingredients locally, or from sustainable schemes like Red Tractor, organic and Fairtrade. This really adds to our service users feeling that their fresh-cooked food is truly wholesome, helping them regain their health and wellbeing.
“We also have a unique approach to assessing people’s dietary needs when they come to one our facilities and to reviewing their nutrition over time so that we can make sure that the food they receive meets their needs.
“Chefs and dieticians have also been reviewing the recipes used, to improve their quality and nutritional profile, such as reducing the salt and fat content. This means service users still enjoy popular dishes which are now cooked in a healthier way.”
HRH The Prince of Wales has had a long and active involvement in the drive towards better hospital food and has been Royal Patron of the Soil Association since 2004.
Guests at the reception included hospital catering managers, patient representatives, people who serve food on wards, farmers who supply their local hospital, and chairs or chief executives of the hospital trusts.
The Soil Association released a report in February this year called 'First aid for hospital food' which featured success stories including the achievements at St Andrew’s in food quality and seasonal and local food sourcing without impacting hospital budgets.