The Sunday Telegraph

Venison is fair game for hospital patients

- By Patrick Sawer SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

GAME is to be served to patients at hospitals around the country as part of a trial scheme to broaden the choice of healthy dishes.

These will include meals prepared using pheasant, partridge and venison.

British Game Assurance (BGA), an industry group that has launched the trial, says game meat has a number of benefits for patients.

As well as being more nutritious than other meats, it is higher in selenium, which is thought to reduce the risk of certain cancers, protect against heart disease and boost the immune system.

The BGA said tests had also shown it is more palatable for people suffering from dysphagia, which causes difficulty with swallowing.

“Pheasant, partridge and venison are being snapped up by hospital caterers as a nutritious and affordable addition to patient meals,” the BGA said. “We have been working with various organisati­ons to promote this healthy, sustainabl­e, protein and the NHS was a natural fit.”

Liam Stokes, chief executive of BGA, said: “Game is high protein, low fat and has an excellent micronutri­ent profile, so is a good fit for NHS patients.

“The game the NHS will be trialling will be sourced from estates that are both lead-free and assured by British Game Assurance, which is the gold standard of sustainabl­e game procuremen­t.”

At least five hospitals are understood to be preparing to trial game dishes in the coming weeks. Those approached include Sheffield Teaching Hospital, Ashford and St Peter’s, Northern Care Alliance, the Royal Free in north London, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Mr Stokes added: “We have been helping the NHS develop recipes that will not only be healthy and sustainabl­e, but will provide patients with a tasty and interestin­g option.”

The BGA is also planning to work with the Ministry of Defence to supply game for the Armed Forces.

The hospitals scheme has won the backing of farming and rural groups.

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countrysid­e Alliance said: “This is a win for hospital patients who are able to access game, as well as it being another extension of the game market.

“Game shooting provides a whole range of benefits from conservati­on of the countrysid­e, to its social and economic contributi­on to rural communitie­s.”

‘Pheasant, partridge and venison are being snapped up as a nutritious and affordable addition to meals’

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