Published at 11:15, Friday, 27 July 2012

FURNESS General Hospital’s catering team is responsible for feeding more than 1,000 people, with a vast array of dietary needs, every day. In the latest in a series of articles documenting life behind the scenes at FGH, EMMA PRESTON finds out how they do it

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IT’S 11am and I am tucking into leek and potato soup, along with lamb in gravy, vegetable risotto, chilli and wedges and chicken and bacon pasta – oh, and a side order of rice pudding and apple crumble with custard.

It’s not exactly your average brunch but, seeing as I am here to learn about life in Furness General Hospital’s catering department, sampling their products is a vital part of the experience. And I’m actually pleasantly surprised.

Everyone knows the stereotypical expectations of hospital food – but this tastes as homemade as many things I make in my own kitchen.

And the variety which poses a challenge to someone attempting to taste all the day’s meals at once is what’s key to keeping the hospital’s patients satisfied day in, day out.

Tracy Litt, hotel services manager for catering, explains: “It’s hard to get a menu that suits everyone.

“We’ve spent a lot of time banging our heads against a wall trying to do that, and it does take a lot of work getting that balance for everybody.

“We get such a variety of patients coming through those doors, and people of different ages want different things.

“We try to cater for everybody’s needs but you can never keep everyone happy all the time.”

But, Tracy adds, most of the feedback her team gets from patients is good – with most being understanding of the challenge they have on their hands.

The catering team is responsible for producing three meals a day for upwards from 320 patients, up to 64 children in the hospital’s creche and around 700 people visiting the public dining room every day.

This means taking on the daunting task of designing a patient menu of meals that can lend themselves to easy alterations allowing for different dietary needs relating to patients’ conditions.

The dining room also hosts special themed days for its guests, and the team’s chefs take turns to research and create a special recipe from scratch.

Tracy says: “It’s extra work, but when you’ve got a young team you want to keep them proactive, and the credit they get from the customers really boosts their confidence.”

Tracy is responsible for 65 members of staff, with 35 to 40 working at any one time.

This includes chefs, supervisors, catering assistants (including pan and pot washers) and menu clerks, who start the day by collating all the filled-out menus from every ward, inputting the orders into their computer system and feeding the information into the kitchen so they know how much of each meal to produce.

Menus requesting specialist or modified dietary meals are separated out and prepared in a specially-assigned area of the kitchen.
As we stop by to visit that day’s duty diet chef, who is responsible for doing this, Tracy explains some of the different types of meals which need to be provided, including low residue, pureed, softs and other modified textures.
As she does, the extent of her experience in this environment, and her passion for what she does, becomes increasingly clear.

Tracy, who started work at FGH as a chef 22 years ago, says: “I think my chef background is very important – I know how the system works, I can see things from the staffs’ point of view, and to be able to do that with that background experience is a real help.

“I think it’s important for my team to have someone there who has been there, done it, worn the t-shirt.”

Tracy’s progression during her time at FGH is typical of the way the catering department works – with staff constantly undergoing training and education.

For example, today’s head chef, Andy Bickle, started as a pan washer at the trust 17 years ago.

Tracy says: “Within our department we have a lot of long-stay staff members – people who have been here 20, 25 years. Our staff tend to stay with us. They don’t disappear off, and I think that’s down to the fact that their potential really is recognised and encouraged here.”

Tracy’s job is to oversee all the work done by that team, from menu planning to ordering and organising daily produce deliveries.

She also makes sure her team are regularly doing the wide range of health and safety and hygiene checks required of them, including recording the temperature in their storage facilities three times a day and filling out food preparation and monitoring forms to show everything has reached the right temperatures during cooking.

Tracy also talks me through the work of her staff in the vast pot-wash area, and the standards to which the pans and dished are steam-cleaned.

Hygiene is obviously a major priority. “It’s because of the people you’re feeding”, Tracy explains.

“You’re feeding the old, you’re feeding young children, you’re feeding pregnant ladies, you’re feeding people who are already ill and vulnerable – it’s got to be right.”

As Tracy continues to shows me around, the sheer scale of this department’s operation is clear – from the vast storage areas to the huge kitchens split into various separate sections and food preparation areas.

Everywhere you look, a different chef is hard at work making sure the products they are producing are the best they can be.

Tracy says: “You can see the passion in them, because they’re proud of their job and they’re absolutely determined to do it right.

“Coming in to hospital, for some people, a meal time is the highlight of the day – and if you don’t get that correct it causes frustration, which is why my team so want to get it right.

“A lot of our chefs do taste testing because, if it’s not suitable at our level, it’s definitely not good enough for our patients.

“We want to give them the best food we can within our remits.

“And if it’s not right, we won’t send it.”

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