The Chefs’ Forum, in partnership with professionals across the NHS, recently launched a book titled The Healthcare Chefs’ Knowledge at the Hotel, Restaurant and Caterer show in ExCeL.
The book, which contains over 100 NHS-approved recipes, showcases the latest advancements in patient, staff, and visitor catering across the NHS.
Chair of the Food Review and now senior operational manager and national lead for Net Zero food at NHS England, Philip Shelley, has worked closely with The Chefs’ Forum to produce this important new work.
He said: “The goal is to provide every NHS chef with a complimentary copy of the book thanks to the amazing support of our sponsors, we will make it happen.
“Since the Independent Review of Hospital Food was published in 2020 the NHS has been working towards implementing and furthering the recommendations. 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.”
And Catherine Farinha, director of The Chefs’ Forum, added: “This is a much-needed book and following on from the launch of The Chefs’ Knowledge last year, we have brought our publishing skills to the NHS. 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 and our new book, written and edited by Chefs’ Forum editor Chandos Elletson, has left no stone unturned.
“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. 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.”
Copies of The Healthcare Chefs’ Knowledge are being sent out to every NHS Trust in England.