EP Business in Hospitality Issue 53 - April 2015

More documents

Recommendations

Info

CHECK IN THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S FINEST LUXURY BOUTIQUE HOTELS, THEIR OWNERS AND THEIR VISION Building on the highly successful and internationally recognized World Boutique Hotel Awards, this unique coffee table-style book will not only promote hotels but will also tell the fascinating stories of the people behind the hotels, the owner’s interesting journey, their business ethos and vision to create a hotel for visitors to enjoy a truly unique experience. The World Boutique Hotels Collection showcases the finest luxury boutique hotels around the world and is distributed internationally to the rooms of every member hotel and other luxury locations. With a minimum readership of 100,000 international individuals and a target print run of 10,000 copies, the collection will be placed directly in the hands of a high net-worth demographic. TO RESERVE YOUR PLACE IN THIS UNIQUE BOOK, CHECK IN NOW EDWARD GABBAI DIRECTOR e: edward@boutiquehotelawards.com m: +44 (0)7939 189 415 www.boutiquehotelawards.com CAROLINE PLANT MEDIA SALES MANAGER e: caroline.plant@newhallpublishing.com m: +44 (0)7896 496 050
Julian Fris | Opinion Food vs service Julian Fris gives a continuing commentary on the NHS catering experience and asks how we resolve the challenges presented by the ‘last nine yards’ in patient food delivery Nick Dawe It has been a while since I provided some feedback on catering in the health service. It was never going to be an easy challenge but it has a high media profile and senior NHS leaders are at last recognising that food can no longer be ignored. We have recorded 30% wastage in many hospitals across England; only 50% of patients eat their meal when served and 25% of patients get malnutrition during a hospital stay. You then read that such and such hospital has scored 90% food satisfaction. Who are they trying to kid? There are a number of campaigns – including Sustain’s Better Hospital Food, the Soil Association’s Food for Life and the Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) The Last Nine Yards – all of which we support. There is also the Department of Health’s Hospital Food Standards Panel guidance, which is little more than a ‘screen scrape’ of everybody else’s food and nutrition policies – it is not a single legally binding policy that sets out clear and unequivocal requirements, as exists for schools and prisons. Many campaigns focus on the provenance of food, and that is a worthy cause. In this case, the HCA presents the most compelling argument. The food is important – but the service is paramount. In many hospitals, the control of food is out of the caterers’ hands as it is delivered by nurses, healthcare assistants or volunteers. In a recent study we undertook at an English regional hospital, only 20% of ward staff had any food safety training and only 10% had any customer skills training. No wonder less than three-quarters of the patients got what they asked for – meal ordering was most likely guessed by nurses or healthcare assistants. Where caterers serve, patient satisfaction levels are highly likely to increase. In hospitals, there is a level of dedication and skill required from contractors and in-house teams alike to get the service right – especially with some of the vast distances covered and lift availability issues. At a site in the South Midlands there is such poor infrastructure that porters have to wrestle the food trolleys up and down stairs when the lifts fail – and they often do – but the patients still get fed on time. However, again we recorded 26% waste there, worth an annual value of £ 1 /2m in food and wasted time. That is not uncommon. Another health trust throws away 70 tonnes of food in a year, which is around 150,000 meals lost. We have conducted one-to-one patient interviews at a number of hospitals and “ In many hospitals, the control of food is out of the caterers’ hands as it is delivered by nurses, healthcare assistants or volunteers ” discovered that a more realistic satisfaction is around 50% rather than the overinflated official scores. Many hospitals focus on the process being carried out within acceptable parameters rather than actually providing great service. How do we resolve this? Clearly training is a priority, so is a clear service culture that touches all the people involved in catering for patients. The real challenge is the ‘last nine yards’ where the food arrives at the ward and is then delivered to the patient. Let patients control their choice (where they can) and get them around a dining table for lunch and tea. Whether the meal is chilled, steam cuisine, frozen or fresh is secondary to the patient meal experience. That’s not to say that getting the food right isn’t important, but that’s something you work at once you have resolved service. I strongly believe that a hospital is the heart of a community it serves and should provide opportunities for local food producers to supply fresh, free-range and additive-free ingredients. But if you cook them and then there’s a significant delay to delivery, the quality, food safety risk and nutrition is obviously going to suffer. However, it’s evolution, not revolution – step by step the problem will be resolved through innovative solutions, technology and better staff and patient engagement. A clear Government policy would be a start! Julian Fris, Founder and director of Neller Davies epmagazine.co.uk | 33
Page 1 and 2: April 2015 | £5.00 epmagazine.co.u
Page 3 and 4: Chris Sheppardson | Welcome BUSINES
Page 5 and 6: 16 30 Inside this issue | Contents
Page 7 and 8: Traditional values | Feature BREAKI
Page 9 and 10: Catherine Roe | Business A QUIET TR
Page 11 and 12: Andrew Williamson | Opinion Employe
Page 13 and 14: Danny Pecorelli | People Nick Dawe
Page 16 and 17: Dominic Lake | Entrepreneurs CHAMPI
Page 18 and 19: David Simms | Business A HANDS-ON A
Page 20 and 21: British hospitality | Feature THE R
Page 22 and 23: British hospitality | Feature MORE
Page 24 and 25: Events sector | Business COVERING A
Page 26 and 27: French cuisine | International WHER
Page 28 and 29: Colin Bailey | Business WHEN CULTUR
Page 30 and 31: Double Dutch | Entrepreneurs MIXING
Page 34 and 35: Thomas Franks | Business MORE TO TH
Page 36 and 37: Leadership | Management LEADING FRO
Page 38 and 39: Exclusive supplier of Moravian wine
Page 40 and 41: Czech wine | International MORAVIA,
Page 42 and 43: Networking | Management THE CRAFT O
Page 44 and 45: Food waste | Campaign WASTE NOT, WA
Page 46 and 47: Peer advisory groups | Management N
Page 48 and 49: Le Cordon Bleu | Feature CELEBRATIN
Page 50: Hamish Cook | Opinion The right stu

EP Business in Hospitality Issue 53 - April 2015

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?