Heroic hospital staff will deliver 5k Xmas dinners
ATEAM of 60 her oic ho spi t a l s t a f f a r e del ivering more than 5000 Christmas dinners to hospitals across Glasgow. Catering staff are preparing and cooking three- course meals to be sent to every hospital in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area for December 25.
Every meal has been prepared with fresh ingredients and is cooked to meet each patient’s nutritional needs as advised by specialist catering dietician Helen Blackwell.
This year more than 210kg of Brussels sprouts, nearly 300kg of turkey, 244kg of roast potatoes and 6000 chipolatas will pass through the Cook Freeze Production Units under the watchful eyes of catering team managers Jim Dougan and Scott Stirrat, and administration manager, Margaret Valenti.
Head of catering, Kate McVey, is overseeing the operation to ensure everyone has an enjoyable Christmas Day meal, from taking orders from patients, prepping the food and delivering meals to patients via specially designed mobile ward ovens.
Kate said: “No- one wants to be in hospital over Christmas and especially not to miss out on Christmas dinner so while we can’t promise the former, we can ensure everyone gets the option of a festive meal to help cheer them up.
“Our Cook Freeze Production Units mean we’re able to deliver three courses packed with flavour and we’ll be safe in the knowledge that across NHSGGC our patients will receive food which is consistent in quality and nutritional value.
“Our staff work extremely hard all year round delivering 35,000 meals per week through both of our kitchens, so while it’s a mammoth task planning for Christmas, they take it in their stride along with any other day.”
The production unit recently received a £ 500,000 investment which involved upgrading the ovens and other equipment to bring the units in line with the kitchen’s high- tech software programme which can track meals right down to a single sprout.
This will be Ray Jupp’s first Christmas as unit manager and with the support of the team, he says the festive operation runs like clockwork.
Ray said: “We’re extremely proud of the food we produce for patients, from sourcing fresh produce from nationally contracted suppliers like Campbell’s the butchers and Andrew McDicken’s fresh seafood, both providing Scottish produce.
“Everything we produce is carefully designed to give our patients nutritious and tasty food, all year round.
“This year patients have a range of options for Christmas dinner, so whether you love or loathe sprouts, there’ll be something for everyone.”