Since the independent review of hospital food was published in 2020 the NHS has been working towards implementing and furthering the recommendations.
Chair of the Food Review Phil Shelley said: “Working with The Chefs’ Forum to produce The Healthcare Chefs’ Knowledge has been very important. For the first time since the Food Review, we now have a central book that contains not just recipes but detail about the journey from our kitchens to the patient.
“We also talk about some of the specialties involved, staff catering and the need for a strong partnership between nursing, dietitians and our chefs. There have been some incredible changes in recent years and although there is always more work to do, this is a chance to recognise where we now stand.
“Importantly, our chefs need to understand the wider implications of the review, the food standards, and the responsibility that they have throughout healthcare.”
The book, which contains over 100 NHS-approved recipes, showcases the latest advancements in patient, staff and visitor catering across the NHS. The goal of the book is to provide every NHS chef with a complimentary copy of the book.
Catherine Farinha, director of The Chefs’ Forum, added: “We have worked across the board, interviewing chefs, clinicians, doctors, dieticians, patient groups and NHS food supply experts, to gather as much up to date knowledge as we could.
“The amount of work that has been done over the last few years since the Food Review is enormous. Working with Phil Shelley and Nick Vadis from NHS Supply Chain, it gave us access to the best of the best, and the cherry on the cake was having Prue Leith write the foreword.
“The Healthcare Chefs’ Knowledge will launch on the Rational stand at HRC in March and we are looking forward to seeing the first printed copies as well as sending them out to every trust. However, we believe that such an important and timely work, will also have an interest in private hospitals, care homes and anywhere else where food is served to vulnerable patients.”