New rules for hospital food - what do you think

Under the legally binding food standards, hospitals will be forced to ensure food served to patients meets required levels of nutrition, as well as being appetising.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the new measures would give "patients the power" and would "incentivise hospitals to raise their game".

He said: "Many hospitals are already offering excellent food to their patients and staff. But we want to know that all patients have nourishing and appetising food to help them get well faster and stay healthy, which is why we're introducing tough new mandatory standards for the first time ever."

The new rules could mean that "unhealthy" food, such as the "fry-up pie" served at a hospital in Dundee, could be a thing of the past.

However Labour said there was a risk that the new rules would be ignored.

Shadow public health minister Luciana Berger said: "Everyone wants to see the quality of hospital food improved, but without proper enforcement there is a risk that these new standards will simply be ignored.

"It is regrettable that Jeremy Hunt has published these standards without consulting with patients and it is worrying that some experts have described the standards as 'weak' and 'woefully inadequate'.

"If Jeremy Hunt is serious about improving patients' experience of the NHS then he must also address the crisis in A&E and the growing waiting lists for operations."

Channel 4 News asked people on Facebook what they thought of the new rules with four options - that the rules are a good idea, that hospital food is fine as it is, that the move is political positioning, and that other NHS problems should be addressed first. Channel 4 News also allowed Facebook users to add their own options. You can see the results of the poll below.

Hospitals will be bound to screen patients for malnutrition, give patients the "help they need" to eat and drink, promote healthy diets for staff and visitors, and source sustainable food.

The new rules follow figures on the quality of food in hospitals across England, released on Wednesday. The figures ranked 1,292 hospitals for choice and quality of food (pictured, below).

Amongst the 251 worst hospitals for quality of food were Stoke Mandeville, famous for its role in creating the Paralympic Games, St Mary's Hospital in London, where Prince George was born, and Birmingham children's hospital.

The worst hospital for food quality was Lee Mill in Plymouth, while 212 hospitals scored 100 per cent for food quality.

Channel 4 News
29 August 2014