£500k on trolleys to warm plates in Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital food revamp

Concerns about food not being hot enough has prompted Interserve, which provides the meal service, to invest £500,000 on new trolleys which will be able to warm plates.

A survey in 2013 showed that only 44 per cent of patients were happy with what was being served up at the hospital.

Since then bosses have been working to make improvements to the meal service.

For lunch and supper, patients now have the choice of four hot meals, four cold options, six side dishes, and a variety of both hot and cold puddings

This is in addition to the 24 hot dishes available to pre-order from the special menu which includes gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian and halal options.

A trial has taken place to get the views of patients and unpopular meals have been dropped.

Chief executive of Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust Paula Clark said: "In response to patient feedback and a lengthy menu review, we are introducing a new Chosen by Patients menu for inpatients at Russells Hall Hospital.

"Our new inpatient menus are already in use in four ward areas - ward B4, ward C5, children's ward and our medical high dependency unit.

"Our Trust-wide programme is still being finalised, but patients in all ward areas at the hospital will start to benefit from the new improved menus over the coming months.

"All the dishes on our new menus have been tried, tested and given the thumbs up by patients, staff, dietitians, executive and non-executive directors, governors and interested members of the public. As well as approving the food choices on offer, we have also made further changes to our inpatient food.

"Patients told us they wanted more choice at mealtimes, especially for those with specific dietary requirements and allergies.

"We also found that patients were keen to have fruit served throughout the day, and so we now offer a variety of fresh fruit at every mealtime.

"Patients also said that our sandwiches could be improved, by changing the fillings available and the type of bread used."

Earlier this year, the hospital recruited 73 volunteers - or nutrition support workers - to help patients eat their meals.

Their job is to encourage patients to eat to help their recuperation and also assist them with their meals if they need a hand. They also help make drinks for patients and ensure they have drinking water.