Consultation on options to improve and assure the nutritional standards of food in hospitals

Overview

The consultation document invites views on proposed options to improve and assure the nutritional standards of food in hospitals, including the option to place nutritional standards for food in hospitals on a statutory footing. By statutory footing, we mean establishing minimum, legal standards which NHS Boards in Scotland have to achieve in terms of the nutrition of the food served to hospital patients.

Click here to download a copy of the consultation paper.

Why your views matter

Our ambition is for all hospital patients in NHS Scotland to receive food that reflects their nutritional needs and meets established nutritional standards. Although progress has already been made to ensure hospital patients receive food that meets established standards, there continues to be concerns voiced that on occasion hospital nutrition still falls short of acceptable standards. On 17 November 2014, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Alex Neil, announced a consultation to determine whether nutritional standards for food in hospitals should be placed on a statutory footing. The Programme for Government (PfG) 2014-15 ‘One Scotland’ – produced by the Scottish Government – reiterated this commitment: ‘We will take forward a consultation on whether nutritional and catering standards in hospital should be placed on a statutory footing’.