Food and catering at Great Ormond Street Hospital

The food children eat whilst in hospital is an important aspect of good care and can have an impact on recovery. The quality and choice of food offered to patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) was criticised in a 2012 Care Quality Commission Report and again in a Patient Led Assessment of the Care Environment in 2013. As a result, the hospital has been making changes to improve its food.

 In 2014, Healthwatch Camden used its statutory powers of “enter and view” to investigate how well the current catering services at GOSH are meeting patients’ needs and preferences. A team of volunteers visited the hospital on two occasions to observe meal services on eight different wards and to speak with patients and their families about the hospital food. 

The findings on food provision were generally positive, especially considering the challenge of meeting a wide variety of needs, covering both medical and cultural requirements, as well as personal preferences. 

However, the researchers also identified a number of areas for improvement. These related to the systems and organisation of responsibility for meals, including handover from kitchen to ward, and arrangements in the case of staff absence. There is also a need for improvements in the choice of food available, especially for those with specific cultural requirements or preferences. A lack of consistency in the quality and availability of snacks was also identified. 

Healthwatch Camden made three formal recommendations to GOSH and asked for clarification on a number of questions raised by the volunteer researchers.