Grossman hits out over NHS food

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Loyd Grossman, once drafted in to revamp NHS menus, has accused ministers of failing to take hospital patients' nutrition seriously.

The broadcaster, famous for Masterchef, said a long line of health ministers had failed to give sufficient political commitment to improving NHS food.

Speaking to Nursing Standard magazine, he also accused civil servants of lacking imagination.

The Department of Health said hospital food had improved greatly.

I found there was little political commitment to improve hospital food Loyd Grossman

Mr Grossman was asked to head the government's Better Hospital Food Programme seven years ago.

The £40 million initiative was launched in 2001 and ran for five years.

However, the project failed to capture the imagination.

Nurses in Lancashire described the new menus as "slop" months after they were introduced, and the chairman of the Hospital Caterers Association said they were too expensive.

Missed opportunity

Mr Grossman told Nursing Standard: "It was a hugely missed opportunity. I found there was little political commitment to improve hospital food.

"In the five years I was involved I reported to five different ministers.

"With a ministerial turnaround like that, it is difficult to make sure the political will to take hospital food seriously exists."

Mr Grossman said his work with the NHS had left him reluctant to get involved in similar projects without a guarantee that they would be taken seriously.

He stressed he was convinced that good nutrition was vital to aid the recovery and healing process.

"Ideally I would like to see hospitals preparing fresh food in their own kitchens. But the most important thing is food quality.

"Hospital catering is a complex issue and a series of small, unspectacular steps would create lasting value.

"But that is not sufficiently headline-grabbing and therefore it fell down the agenda."

Mr Grossman said the NHS would do better to centralise power when purchasing food, rather than delegating the task down to local level.

Standards

This would enable it to use its influence not only to secure a good deal for patients, but also to help support suppliers.

A Healthcare Commission survey of inpatients carried out in 2006 found levels of patient satisfaction with hospital food had not risen since the previous survey four years earlier.

But Neil Watson-Jones, chairman of the Hospital Caterers Association, said the project had helped to raise standards of hospital food, in part by raising the profile of the issue, and by increasing awareness of the importance of good nutrition.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Hospital food has improved greatly over the past few years.

"There are some excellent menus around but we recognise that more needs to be done."