New food service rolls out at Dunedin Hospital

Following the smooth implementation of a new patient menu and food model provided by Compass Group at Southland Hospital on 11 January 2016, Dunedin and Wakari hospitals will transition to the same menu and food model today.

The new menu and food model will see more meal choices for patients and food orders recorded on an electronic tablet meaning patients can order their meals much closer to meal times.

“We’re very pleased with the transition to the new menu and food model at Southland Hospital. Obviously we have monitored feedback both before and since the changeover and are pleased at how similarly positive it has been,” said Southern DHB Chief Executive, Carole Heatly.

All patient meals at both Southland and Dunedin Hospital are still prepared in the DHB’s onsite kitchens in Invercargill and Dunedin from a mix of locally and nationally sourced food and bulk pre-prepared frozen options, the majority of the latter are meat, chicken and fish based dishes. The nutritional content of all the food served has to meet standards set by the National Food and Nutrition Advisory Group, developed collectively by New Zealand DHBs.

“Compass have been very responsive. They have been taking on board suggestions and feedback and have been making changes where needed,” said Ms Heatly.

“As always with a change to any new service some meals are more popular than others and we will adjust these as we go along, as we always have. We will continue to monitor overall patient feedback to see if we need to adapt to individual preferences. This is one of the benefits of the new ordering system which allows greater menu personalisation.”

“The food services transition in Southland went very well and we anticipate a similar experience in Dunedin,” she said.

Food Services Facts:

• Compass Group sources 95% of the menu items from local New Zealand suppliers, where the food items are available and/or produced in New Zealand.

• Compass Group currently provide 62% of hospital food in New Zealand

• 95% of bakery items are sourced locally.

• Fruit and vegetables are sourced from South Island growing regions where seasonally available.

• All grocery items are procured and delivered through local distribution.

ENDS

© Scoop Media