Campaign for Better Hospital Food response

Campaign for Better Hospital Food response to the Department of Health’s announcement about hospital food standards.

The Department of Health today announced eight ‘principles’ to encourage the improvement of hospital food. The principles state that hospitals should try to adopt Government Buying Standards which are mandatory for food served in government departments and prisons, and that it should be “essential” for patient meals to be nutritious.

The Department also announced that patients will be included in teams of assessors appointed to assess the quality of hospital food.

Alex Jackson, Co-ordinator of the Campaign for Better Hospital Food, responded to the announcement: “History shows that it doesn’t work to merely encourage hospitals to improve patient meals. In the last ten years alone, the Government has spent more than £54 million of taxpayers’ money on similar projects, all of which have proven to fail. It’s time for the Government to take real action to improve hospital food by requiring all hospitals to meet compulsory food standards.”

Read the Department of Health’s announcement here.
See our report: Yet more hospital food failure - the bill rises to £54m and still counting.

Update: An updated version of the report is now available.
Download Twenty years of hospital food failure