Ward hosts introduced to improve patients’ eating and drinking

A number of wards at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon have introduced dedicated ward hosts to provide a new catering service to patients.

Employed by facilities management firm Serco, the new hosts will have overall responsibility for all patient catering requirements, such as meal ordering, mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks and the delivery of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Currently, the new hosts are based on Saturn Ward, Jupiter Ward, Mercury Ward, Neptune Ward, Kingfisher Ward, Teal Ward, Woodpecker Ward and Linnet Ward.

As part of these changes to catering, the lunch and dinner service will also be swapped, meaning patients will have their main hot meal in the evening and a light lunch during the day.

This will ensure the patients are more full, less likely to be interrupted while eating and have an overall improved experience when in hospital.

In addition, every ward will also have a new breakfast trolley available every day, which will improve the variety of breakfast options.

The introduction of the ward hosts follows a number of successful initiatives already under way across the hospital, including improved and enhanced menus, child-friendly food options and the option of a hot meal in the emergency department.