Your Guide to the Hospital Catering Service

This leaflet explains the catering services here at Dorset County Hospital. We hope that this information will help you to get the most from your food and drink during your stay.

Inpatients are catered for by our in-house catering department which operates a fresh cook meal service. Staff and visitors can choose from a variety of retail food and drink options.

What does the catering service provide for inpatients?

The catering team provides three meals a day, plus drinks and snacks to all inpatients at Dorset County Hospital.

Menus

• Breakfast provides a selection of cereals or porridge and bread/toast. A cooked breakfast is offered for those with high nutritional needs or at risk of malnutrition and must be prescribed by a dietitian as part of a personalised nutrition care plan
• The standard menu provides hot and cold options for both lunch and supper and caters for easy chew (EC), vegetarian (V) and high energy/high protein (P) needs. You can also request larger or smaller portions. The standard menu varies each day and runs on a 9-day rotation
• If you have a food allergy, please request an allergen-free menu. Meals on this menu are free from the 14 major allergens. We are not able to provide assurances that meals from our standard menu are free from food allergens
• Upon request there is a variety of other menus available to meet your requirements, including vegan, halal, kosher, texture modified and finger food menus
• Menus are completed on paper. If you would like help completing your menu for any reason, a member of staff will help you so please let us know
• If you have been assessed as having a swallowing difficulty, a texture-modified menu will be provided.

Drinks and snacks
Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, malted milk drinks, savoury beef drinks and fruit squash are available during daily drink rounds. Each ward provides drink rounds on their own schedule and aims to offer drinks seven times each day. If you would like a hot drink outside these times, please ask a member of staff.

For snacks, please ask a member of staff what options are available on your ward. Biscuits and fruit are available at drink rounds on all wards. For additional snacks, please use your menu to order extra items such as yogurts, cheese and biscuits, custard pots, fruit etc. These will arrive on your meal tray and can be saved to eat throughout the day. Chicken or vegetable soups and nutritional milkshakes are available on request and can be made on the ward. If you are hungry or uncertain what is available, please speak to a nurse or healthcare support worker.

Fresh water is available at all times provided you do not need to limit your fluid intake. If you have questions about this, please ask.

What if I miss a meal?

If you have been made ‘nil-by-mouth’ (told you must not eat or drink), you should expect this decision to be reviewed at least every 24 hours. You can order something to eat as soon as you are allowed to eat and drink. You do not need to wait for the next meal service. You may order a meal during the meal service. If you order outside of these hours, you will be provided with snack box options of a sandwich with two extras snacks. Please speak to your health care assistant if you are hungry or have missed a meal out of service hours.

Can I bring food into hospital?

You can, but please choose packaged, non-perishable foods. There are no facilities on the wards to heat up or cook foods. Please check the dates of your food items to ensure they have not expired prior to bringing them in.

Examples of permitted foods:

• Cakes, biscuits and confectionaries
• Crackers, pretzels and crisps
• Fruit and seeds
• Ready to eat dessert pots
• Bottled drinks (non-alcoholic).

Contact numbers

We hope that you have found this information useful. If you have any questions or are worried about anything, please speak to the following Dorset County Hospital Staff:

Dietetics Department: 01305 254415 or email dietetic.services@dchft.nhs.uk

About this leaflet

Author(s): Persephone Scotcher, Dietetic Assistant
Written: October 2022
Approved: October 2022
Review date: October 2025
Edition: v1

If you have feedback regarding the accuracy of the information contained in this leaflet, or if you would like a list of references used to develop this leaflet, please email patientinformation.leaflets@dchft.nhs.uk