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<p>Decisions about hospital food are made locally by National Health Service providers,
but we expect them to provide properly for all their patients’ nutritional needs.
In the 2015 Patient-led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE), 96% of NHS hospitals
reported that they provide one or more hot options for the evening meal.</p><br /><p>In
August 2014, the Department of Health recommended five food standards to be applied
to all hospitals. These include NHS England’s, ‘10 Key Characteristics of Good Nutritional
Care in Hospitals’, attached, which are relevant for all patient types (including
elderly patients). Two of the characteristics relate to reducing the number of missed
meals and providing alternatives when meals are missed. These are:</p><br /><p>- The
ward implements Protected Mealtimes to provide an environment conducive to patients
enjoying and being able to eat their food; and.</p><br /><p>- Hospital facilities
are designed to be flexible and patient centred with the aim of providing and delivering
an excellent experience of food service and nutritional care 24 hours a day, every
day.</p><br /><p>Implementation of the food standards is included in the NHS Standard
Contract 2015/16 and is therefore mandatory. According to PLACE results 2015, 90.8%
of NHS hospitals report that they meet the ’10 Key Characteristics of Good Nutritional
Care’.</p>
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