Enter and view: Queen's Hospital Romford, inpatient meals

Healthwatch Havering conducted an Enter and View visit at Queen's Hospital in October 2017 to observe the serving of lunchtime food to patients in four wards.

The report found that the menus were available to choose from including those who have special dietary requirements and specialised cutlery was readily available for those who had difficulty using traditional cutlery. The Enter and View team observed the process of ordering, serving and tasting throughout the wards. It was reported that not all patients were aware they could choose meals from the range of menus when ordering. During the food distribution, patients received the correct orders and the food looked appetising and jugs of water were provided within reaching distance and remained covered. The mealtimes were not always adhered to by clinical staff, which made distribution of food, by the catering team, difficult. For those that required assistance with feeding, help was provided.

Healthwatch Havering made a number of recommendations including: That consideration be given to the introduction of illustrated menu cards for the use of patients whose ability to read has been impaired (e.g. stroke patients or those living with dementia) so that they may make easier and better choices of food; that efforts continue to recruit more volunteers to assist at mealtimes; that consideration be given to using the volunteers to assist in checking fridges on wards for out of date food and ensuring that all patients have access to menu cards; that Check Charts should be in place for out of date food and clearly marked daily; that patients be encouraged to use hand cleaning wipes before they are served with food; and that, where possible and practicable, patients be encouraged to sit at table for meals.

The response from the service provider was positive and outlined the action plans to address all the recommendations made in the report.