Hospitals keep the lid firmly on patient meals expenditure
Hospital patients in ayrshire get cheaper meals than average across scotland, research shows.
NHs ayrshire & arran spends £ 86 a week feeding a typical patient.
Figures reveal wide gaps in the amount splurged on hospital grub throughout the country.
Lothian health board, covering Edinburgh, splashes out £ 102 per week.
But greater glasgow and Clyde spend £ 10 less than the ayrshire health board at £ 76 a week.
Island health boards are the biggest spenders with NHs shetland patients getting £ 230 worth of food and drink weekly while NHs Orkney splurges £ 139.
south scotland Msp Brian Whittle said he is “concerned” with the disparity.
He said: “It’s absolutely vital that hospital food is healthy, of good quality and appetising.
“If we can’t look to our NHs to do that, who can we expect to lead the way on this?
“the disparity in spending between health boards is extremely concerning.
“You would expect island health boards to have a far higher spend because of transportation issues, and everyone accepts that.
“However, it’s less clear why patients in glasgow receive nearly £ 30 less per head every week than those in Edinburgh and other health boards.
“good, nutritious food is absolutely key to patients making a strong recovery from whatever ailment they’re suffering from.
“But this data clearly points to a lower quality of meal in some parts of the country, and the scottish government needs to intervene to ensure there is more quality across the board.”
Boards with a tighter food budget include NHs grampian and NHs Fife at £ 84 each week per patient.
people in Lanarkshire are treated to meals worth £ 97 a week while those in tayside get £ 96.
John Wright, director for Corporate support services said: “NHs ayrshire & arran provides patients with high quality and nutritionally balanced meals, based on a wide menu choice.
“to help reduce waste, we ask patients to choose their next meal as close as possible to the meal time – for example, at breakfast, patients choose their lunch. this means that our rate of unserved meals is very low.
“We purchase our food and beverages from national procurement contracts agreed by NHs National services scotland ( National procurement), who use the combined buying power of NHs Boards throughout scotland, to get the best possible deals on supplies and services.
“By buying more through national contracts, we are able to save money to re- invest into frontline patient care.”