Hospital cuts out fried breakfasts

FRIED breakfasts will be off the menu for patients at Barnsley Hospital from today after a catering review.

Hospital staff said “traditional” breakfast items such as sausage, bacon, kippers, eggs, baked beans and tomatoes would now only be available to patients who “needed them” because of their medical condition.

The new breakfast menu will instead offer a choice of breakfast cereal, fruit, toast and jam, a choice of malted grain or white roll and porridge

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The new menu has been drawn up following a review by the trust’s team of dietitians and catering staff who said patients will continue to have the option of a further two hot meals in the day.

Debby Horbury matron of general surgery at the hospital said: “The most popular breakfast choices for our patients are porridge and cereal, so the new menu will mean little change for them.

“More importantly patients we identify as needing further nutritional support by the dietetic team will continue to receive the additional breakfast items and will be unaffected by the menu changes.”

Bernie Baxter, head of catering at the hospital added: “The menu review identified that the new menu will be a healthier option for many of the hospital patients, reduce waste and save money.

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“The changes we are making are not revolutionary; in fact we were the only NHS hospital trust in South Yorkshire still offering three hot meals a day to patients – and we were experiencing high levels of waste.”

The menu change is part of a wider review of hospital catering and a better use of resources to support patient nutrition which includes offering new finger food menu to dementia patients

A study showed that over a fortnight last month 2,616 cooked breakfasts were ordered by patients, and 560 came back as waste. That figure did not include waste produced from half-eaten meals.

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