Patient dining

Patients

EATING WELL IN HOSPITAL

It is not unusual for people to lose their appetite when they are unwell. This may be because of the illness itself, the treatment or general anxiety of being in hospital. However eating and drinking during a hospital admission is important to help fight infection, maintain weight and promote healing.
Nurses work alongside dietitians and patient dining staff to encourage patients to eat and maintain their nutritional status. Nursing will ensure patients are positioned correctly and their food is accessible at mealtimes. Through regular nutritional reviews and by monitoring how well patients are eating and drinking nurses will be able to identify patients requiring specialist dietetic support.

Clinical dietitians see patients identified by the nursing staff and medical team as needing specific advice for their illness or medical condition. Our food service dietitian works with the patient dining team to ensure the foods on each menu can meet the nutritional needs of patients.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust offers a full suite of menus with a wide variety of meals to suit the needs of all our patients. Patient menus are refreshed regularly making changes which consider seasonality of ingredients, supplier product availability and patient preference. The environmental impact of the whole food supply chain, from procurement to waste is considered and conscious effort made to deliver nutritionally appropriate and more sustainable food and drink choices with each menu review.

MENU CODING

Menu coding provides information for patients, carers, and staff to enable them to make an informed choice whilst in hospital. The purpose is to highlight dishes that are suitable for patients’ specific requirements.

[HP] HIGHER PROTEIN These dishes contain more protein per portion to meet the increased needs of those who may be at risk of malnutrition, or have a higher protein need to support immune function and physical recovery.

[HE] HIGHER ENERGY These dishes contain more calories per portion to meet the increased needs of those who may be at risk of malnutrition, or have a reduced appetite or have higher energy needs to support physical recovery.

[BC] BALANCED CHOICE These dishes contain moderate amounts of fat, sugar and salt per portion and are suitable for those who do not have increased nutritional needs and are following general healthy eating dietary advice.

[EC] EASY TO CHEW These dishes are suitable for those with dental issues, sore mouths or other medical conditions that make it difficult to bite, chew or swallow regular foods. Patients with difficulties swallowing (dysphagia) who may benefit from a modified texture diet should be referred to Speech and Language Therapy for assessment.

[V] VEGETARIAN These dishes are suitable for those who eat eggs, milk and dairy products. They exclude all meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, crustaceans and ingredients derived from them e.g. gelatine and rennet. A vegan (plant-based) menu is available.

[KD] KIDNEY FRIENDLY These dishes are lower in salt and restrict foods that are high in potassium and phosphate, making them suitable for patients who need to follow a kidney friendly diet.

INPATIENT MENUS

We have a number of in-patient menus suitable for a range of special diets and therapeutic diets. Your ward host or nurse will be able to provide you with a copy of a menu suitable for your dietary requirements.

A la Carte menu
Our standard hospital menu available to all patients across all sites contains dishes tailored to meet the nutritional needs of both the nutritionally well and nutritionally vulnerable adults. Within this menu is cultural menu which contains dishes suitable for the personal preferences of patients following a Halal, Asian vegan, African Caribbean or Jain diet.

Children’s menu
Contains dishes especially selected for our younger patients and littlest tummies. This menu is tailored to meet the nutritional needs of both the nutritionally well and nutritionally vulnerable children while considering their food preferences.

Plant-based menu
Contains dishes prepared using only plant based ingredients such as vegetables, grains, beans and pulses or foods derived from plants. No animal foods (poultry, meat, fish and seafood) or animal derived products such as milk, cheese or honey are used.

NoSH dementia menu
The Nutritional Support in Hospital (NoSH) menus aims to improve nutrition and hydration in patients with dementia by providing a tailored response to their needs when they develop difficulties. The menu contains smaller portion meals, finger food meals and bento snack boxes to support the unique challenges of this patient group.

Kosher menu
Contains dishes suitable for patients observing Jewish dietary laws.

Kidney friendly menu
Contains dishes which are lower in salt, potassium and phosphate, making this menu suitable for patients with impaired kidney function.

Nourishing menu
Contains dishes that are higher in calories and protein per portion, tailored to meet the increased nutritional requirements of patients on our Care of the Elderly wards.

Allergen aware
Contains dishes made without any of the 14 declarable allergens – gluten, milk, eggs, soya, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, peanuts, nuts, sesame, celery, mustard, lupines and sulphites.

Gluten aware
This dishes on this menu contains are made without gluten containing ingredients. These items are sealed for service or opened at point of service to prevent cross contamination. The A la Carte menu contains salads and jacket potato options made without any gluten containing ingredients. These are prepared on site, in an environment that handles gluten containing foods, adhering to food safety procedures to prevent cross contamination. These can be ordered via the ward host.

Level 4 – pureed menu
This modified texture diet is prescribed by a Speech and Language Therapist and is suitable for patients who are not able to bite or chew food or have reduced tongue control. The dishes on this menu do not require chewing and have a smooth texture with no lumps.

Level 5 – minced and moist
This modified texture diet is prescribed by a Speech and Language Therapist and is suitable for patients who have some basic chewing ability, but are not able to chew it down into little pieces that are safe to swallow. The dishes on this menu contain food particle sizes no bigger than 4mm.

Level 6 – soft and bite-sized menu
This modified texture diet is prescribed by a Speech and Language Therapist and is suitable for patients who are able to chew bite-sized pieces down into little pieces that are safe to swallow. The dishes on this menu contain food particle sizes no bigger than 1.5cm x 1.5cm.

Low fibre menu
The dishes on this menu contain a small amount of fibre, making them more easily digested and absorbed, and resulting in minimal residue in the bowel.

Clear and free fluids menu
Clear fluids are often recommended before or after surgeries, tests and procedures. Free fluids are liquid or turn liquid at room temperature or melt at body temperature. This menu is often used before tests or a medical procedure or when recovering from a surgery and usually for a few days only. Be aware the Speech and Language Therapist recommendation for ‘clear water only’ is not the same as ‘clear fluids or ‘free fluids’

Butterfly menu
This menu contains small portions for those who have smaller appetites to promoting dignity and comfort. If a meal option is preferred, please refer to the A la Carte menu.

ALLERGEN INFORMATION

Patients with food allergies are advised to inform nursing staff on admission and the ward host whenever a meal order is being placed. Allergen information for all patient food and drink is available on request.

SERVICE TIMES

Breakfast is served between 08.00 - 09.00
Lunch is served between 12.30 - 13.30
Supper is served between 17.45 - 18.45
Please be aware, there may be slight variations according to ward based agreement.

BREAKFAST

A continental style breakfast of fruit juice, breakfast cereals and porridge oats, bread or toast with butter, unsaturated spread and a selection of jams, marmalade, honey or marmite, yoghurt and fresh fruit is available daily. Your ward host will take your lunch order after breakfast and your supper order after lunch.

SNACKS AND DRINKS

A selection of cake slices, sweet biscuits, cheese and crackers, yoghurt and fresh fruit will be offered twice daily, mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
There are seven drinks rounds: early morning and evening served by nursing staff, whilst those accompanying meal times and snack service will be served by the ward host. Drink options include: tea and coffee (including decaffeinated), malted milk, hot chocolate, full fat or semi-skimmed milk and fruit squash
Your water jug will be refreshed twice a day, unless your ward host is advised otherwise by nursing staff.

MISSED A MEAL?

A snack box is available for those who have missed a meal or are hungry between meals, please ask your nurse. Snack boxes contain fruit juice, a sandwich and two snack items.

PROTECTED MEALTIMES

Most wards operate a policy of protected mealtimes. This is a period of time when meal service takes priority over routine activities. Protected mealtimes aim to provide a quiet and calm environment, and the time patients need to enjoy meals without interruption. We encourage relatives and carers to be present at this time to support with encouraging eating and drinking.

NEED EXTRA HELP AT MEALTIMES?

We are committed to ensuring a comfortable and trouble free stay to all patients. Patients requiring extra help at any time can request this from member of the nursing staff, for example:

assistance choosing a meal suitable for your dietary requirements
help cutting up your food or extra support and assistance with feeding.

FOOD FROM HOME

For dietary and food safety reasons, relatives and other visitors are discouraged from bringing temperature sensitive food to the hospital for patients to consume. Where there are special circumstances please ensure you obtain permission from a member of the nursing staff prior to bringing food from home into the hospital. We will record your request and any agreement reached. Please note:

for food safety reasons, hospital staff are advised not to reheat food brought from home
there is no obligation on us to store any chilled items brought from home. If we agree these must be labelled with the patient’s name and the date brought in, then discarded after 24 hours.

YOUR FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT

To help us review and improve our patient dining services patient may be asked to complete a short survey about their experience. Any feedback or queries during admission are welcomed and can be given to the ward host or nursing staff.

Last updated 20 Nov 2024