Production, and supply of food for patients
Dear Fife NHS Board,
I am writing to make a formal request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, for information held by your Trust about the food production methods and catering procedures employed within the Trust's healthcare facilities.
For the purposes of clarity, I am referring to food that is prepared for, or otherwise supplied to patients by the Trust. This would likely, predominantly, be food supplied to in-patients; but it may well also include any restaurants supplied by your catering department (e.g., Aroma Coffee Houses, or cafés, where supplied).
## Food Production Methods:
RFI 1: Does the Trust produce food for patients in-house? If so, please clarify whether this is carried out on a central site (e.g., central production unit), or within each individual hospital. If there is a mixture of both, please clarify, where possible.
RFI 2: If food is not produced in-house, please provide details on whether it is produced by a third-party facilities contractor (e.g., under a PFI agreement), or purchased from external sources, in frozen (or chilled) format.
Where possible, for RFI 1 and 2, please also clarify the arrangements for delivery-to-patient (e.g., is the food supplied to wards and then reheated on-site, or is some other reheating method used).
RFI 3: For in-patient meals, what is the average cost per meal, to the Trust?
## Recipe and Cooking Method Information:
RFI 4: In the event that the Trust produces food in-house, please supply a copy of the recipes, and cooking / preparation methods utilised by the catering department for standardised food items. I would imagine that this information would be readily available, owing to standardisation of menu items [1].
This would include information on ingredients, preparation steps, cooking temperatures, and any relevant nutritional considerations (e.g., it might be noted on menus that certain items are suitable for those on restricted diets, or that some menu items have specific allergens).
RFI 5: If you do not produce food in-house, please confirm whether you hold standardised information as to what items are available (e.g., menus, and nutritional / allergen information), and supply a copy, where possible.
My preference would be to receive any correspondence electronically (as afforded under §11(2)(a) of FoISA), ideally in a format that allows for contents to be interpreted using screen reading software.
If the Trust intends to supply redacted correspondence, I should be grateful if it would ensure that the text itself is "readable", e.g., by ensuring that content is not supplied merely in image format. Similarly, if there is data held in a spreadsheet format, please supply Excel or CSV files - a PDF may, for example, not allow for easy interpretation of the data.
I would hope that the bulk of this information is readily available, given the standardised nature of hospital catering services; however, if it is likely that a "costs" issue will come into play, I would be happy, in the first instance, to limit my request solely to your in-patient facilities (e.g. excluding any retail / staff catering offer).
I look forward to hearing from you within the statutory timescale, however, should you require any clarity, please do not hesitate in contacting me.
Yours faithfully,
Martyn Dewar
[1] In line with the Scottish Government's National Catering and Nutrition specification for Food and Fluid provision: https://www.nss.nhs.scot/media/1097/1479...
Dear Martyn
Ref: FOISA request FIFENHSIR:2293 Production and supply of food for
patients
Thank you for your request made under the Freedom of Information
(Scotland) Act 2002 (FOI(S)A). We received your request on 2023-08-21
11:13:00 with regards to:
Production and supply of food for patients
We will respond to your request once we have collated the information you
have requested. This will be no later than 20 working days from the date
of this acknowledgement to your request.
If we fail to respond to your initial request, you may write to us and
request a review of our failure to respond at:
Information Governance and Security Team
eHealth Department
Lynebank Hospital
Halbeath Road
Dunfermline, KY11 8JH
[NHS Fife request email]
Alternatively you can raise your concern with the Scottish Information
Commissioner's Office at:
Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife KY16 9DS
http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/
Yours Sincerely,
NHS Fife FOI Team
Dear Mr Dewar,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST NHS Fife:2293.
Thank you for your request made on 21/08/2023 under the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOI(S)A) for production and supply of
food for patients.
NHS Fife has completed our search for information held in relation to your
request and can provide the following response.
For information held by your Trust about the food production methods and
catering procedures employed within the Trust's healthcare facilities.
For the purposes of clarity, I am referring to food that is prepared for,
or otherwise supplied to patients by the Trust. This would likely,
predominantly, be food supplied to in-patients; but it may well also
include any restaurants supplied by your catering department (e.g., Aroma
Coffee Houses, or cafés, where supplied).
## Food Production Methods:
RFI 1: Does the Trust produce food for patients in-house? If so, please
clarify whether this is carried out on a central site (e.g., central
production unit), or within each individual hospital. If there is a
mixture of both, please clarify, where possible.
NHS Fife does produce food for patients in-house. Food is produced at
three sites and delivered to six sites in total. At each mealtime, food
is prepared and then delivered directly to wards.
RFI 2: If food is not produced in-house, please provide details on whether
it is produced by a third-party facilities contractor (e.g., under a PFI
agreement), or purchased from external sources, in frozen (or chilled)
format.
NHS Fife operates a delivered meal system utilising pre-prepared food from
a variety of suppliers. At these three sites, frozen food is regenerated
at ward level and supplemented by fresh foods.
Where possible, for RFI 1 and 2, please also clarify the arrangements for
delivery-to-patient (e.g., is the food supplied to wards and then reheated
on-site, or is some other reheating method used).
RFI 3: For in-patient meals, what is the average cost per meal, to the
Trust?
For in-patient meals, the average cost per patient, per day is £16.00 as
of June 2023.
## Recipe and Cooking Method Information:
RFI 4: In the event that the Trust produces food in-house, please supply
a copy of the recipes, and cooking/preparation methods utilised by the
catering department for standardised food items. I would imagine that this
information would be readily available, owing to standardisation of menu
items [1].
This would include information on ingredients, preparation steps, cooking
temperatures, and any relevant nutritional considerations (e.g., it might
be noted on menus that certain items are suitable for those on restricted
diets, or that some menu items have specific allergens).
Please see attached NHS Fife's example of standard recipes.
RFI 5: If you do not produce food in-house, please confirm whether you
hold standardised information as to what items are available (e.g., menus,
and nutritional / allergen information), and supply a copy, where
possible.
Please see attached a sample of NHS Fife’s nutritional analysis.
I hope this information is helpful to you. If, however, you are unhappy
with any aspect of how we have dealt with your request you can ask us to
review the handling of your request. Please write to us specifying the
reasons you are seeking a review within 40 working days of the date of
this correspondence.
We will undertake a review of our response, which will be led by a senior
staff member who is independent from the original response. If you are not
satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to make a
formal complaint to the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner.
Many Thanks
Katrina Morris
NHS Fife FOI Team
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