Food and Hydration Strategy

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (RJAH – the Trust) is committed to providing the highest level of care possible for their patients and this, without question, includes the quality and nutritional value of the food that is served and eaten.

As a rural, elective orthopaedic specialist Trust, the RJAH has many unique qualities; a history of excellence in the catering service is one of them. The Trust has always produced food freshly on-site, via the in-house catering service, which has contributed to the achievement of national leading scores in the CQC inpatient survey.

As a commitment to excellence in the future, one of the Trust’s core values, this quality driven strategy will outline our food and hydration ambitions for the next three years for patients, staff and visitors.

Far from sitting back on our laurels, RJAH understands that the patient environment is one that is constantly evolving and we must put in place constant review, monitoring and implementation to meet the changing needs.

This Strategy will drive the capital programme in Catering, focusing investment on solutions that retain our high quality, whilst minimising waste so as to provide long term, sustainable, excellence.

In line with the Hospital Food Standards Panel’s report on standards for food and drink in NHS hospitals and other key documents, our strategy will focus on three key areas: Patient nutrition and hydration; Healthier eating across hospitals, for patients and our staff; and Sustainable procurement of food and catering services.

Delivery of our strategic aims will be measured in part by the annual Patient-led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE). It is anticipated that the current format of PLACE will be amended to include a more detailed evaluation of how well hospitals are working to meet their objectives and towards required hospital food standards.