Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust: The fruit and vegetable stall that people travel to hospital for

Shortly after introducing the fruit and vegetable stalls seven years ago at Pinderfields Hospital and Dewsbury Hospital, word spread and PORTERS FRUIT AND VEG LTD has been inundated with customers.

Richard Porter, 45, had been running market stalls for almost 20 years before he got the gig to set up the stalls outside

But it’s not just hospital staff and patients who make the most out of this healthy oasis, people come from across the district to purchase produce from the market stall.

Richard’s son, also called Richard Porter, aged 22, now runs the stalls with his 19 year old partner Katie Robinson.

Katie said: ”It’s a beautiful job, we are enjoying it. But with the cost of living rising at the moment, the prices have risen a lot over all of the produce; however we are trying to keep our prices as affordable as possible.”

The pair leave their home in Doncaster at 1.30am and get home for around 4.30pm.

You can find the stalls at Pinderfields Hospital on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and Dewsbury Hospital on Wednesdays.

How it began:

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust’s PFI team saw a fruit and vegetable stall in operation at another trust and recognised the health benefits of offering the service to patients, visitors and staff but also saw it as a good measure to deter smokers congregating in the hospital entrance. The team developed the idea, secured the necessary agreements within the Trust and with the support of the local council they ran a procurement exercise to establish the preferred provider – Richard Porter.