Patient meals to be improved at Walsall Manor Hospital

PATIENT meals at Walsall Manor Hostial are to be improved after bosses raised serious concerns over the standard of food.

The contractor that supplies the meals is facing the axe. It comes after Ben Reid, chairman of the trust that runs the Manor, personally raised concerns.

Mr Reid described a ham sandwich he had eaten at the hospital as "one of the worst ever".

Meanwhile, bosses are also tightening up on visiting hours at mealtimes after patients started requesting extra food and drink and handing it over to relatives.

Mr Reid said complaints about the issue had now sparked a review. At Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust's annual general meeting yesterday, Mr Reid said he had raised concerns over food standards with chief executive, Richard Kirby.

"I was telling Richard just the other day how the ham sandwich I'd had here was one of the worst ever," he said. "We are aware there has been an issue with the food and we have been getting some brought to our board meetings to sample.

"The contract is going out for re-tendering."

One member of the public meanwhile told the meeting she had heard of cases where patients were ordering extra food, only to hand it to visitors. She said: "It seems the message has got round, 'you can come to Walsall Manor Hospital and eat for free'."

Mr Reid said the hospital was dealing with the problem. "Patients are going back to having protected mealtimes," he said.