Inside the hospital kitchen making Christmas dinner for 1,700 patients
This year the award-winning catering team at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) is preparing to serve Christmas dinner to 1,700 patients.
The menu features a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings, roast pork and stuffing, turkey and cranberry casserole and a Quorn roast.
This year’s Christmas dinner includes a massive: 1,400 portions of turkey, 1,400 portions of roast pork, 770 Quorn roasts, 6,000 portions of vegetables and potatoes, 1,500 portions of Christmas pudding with rum sauce and 3,800 mince pies.
The NUH catering team, based in the Catering Production Unit (CPU) at City Hospital, started preparing for one of their biggest days of the year back in August.
Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for the team, however, the hard work does not stop there. Over 1.9 million meals made on-site are served to patients throughout the year.
Food Production Manager Sue Austin said: “Most people don't know our production unit exists and think we bring all of the food in from outside suppliers.’’
"We have a local butcher and a most of our produce is from British suppliers. We are proud of that. 65 or 70 per cent of the food on our menus is produced in-house. We are really proud we can produce all of the main menu items for our patients."
19 chefs, 35 assistants, stores and helpdesk staff as well as 350 staff in Food Services work together to produce and deliver up to 7,000 meals a day to patients across City Hospital and the Queen’s Medical Centre.
Patients order their meals on the wards via the Food Services Assistants using an electronic ordering system which is then picked, packed and delivered by the Food Services team to serve at ward level.
A variety of hot meals are offered for lunch and supper from a range of menus to suit everyone’s needs.
Sue said: “In total, we offer over 60 menus. We have our main menu and we also have a wide range of ethnic meals, vegan menus, allergen free menus, therapy menus and more. It’s so important we have something for everyone.”
Despite hundreds of dishes to choose from patients have their favourites.
Sue added: “Our top dishes are roast beef, steak and ale pie and beef lasagne.
“Our hot puddings are very popular too. We make 1,000 portions of puddings, like sponges and apple crumbles, for our patients each day and they always go down well.”
All food produced on site is cooked to a standard recipe and method. The team work with NHS England, the Hospital Caterers Association, a Chief Dietetic Technician and dieticians across the Trust to come up with the best meals and processes for patients.
Sue said: “It's all done to very strict standards. It's particularly important for vulnerable patients to have good food, and we are keen to rebut that thing of 'it's only hospital food'.”
The award-winning unit is one of few similar facilities at hospitals around the country.
Sue added: "There are very few units like us but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We want the service to be personal and to maintain the quality for our patients."
The team hope their traditional cooked dinner can spread some festive cheer to patients on Christmas day.