Supporting the report titled Twenty Years of Hospital Food Failure, BDA honorary chairman Helen Davidson, said: “Good food and appropriate nutrition must, at all times, be an absolute priority.
“We should never underestimate the impact this has on patient treatment, well being and improvement. Indeed, food and nutrition can be just as important as medication for some and patients should look forward to meal times.
“As it stands, the scope for this to improve in hospitals is massive.”
As part of its Better Hospital Food campaign, the Sustain report found that between 1992 and 2013 the Government introduced 21 failed voluntary initiatives to improve hospital food, costing more than £54 million of taxpayers’ money (enough to pay for 34 new hospital kitchens.
Also, that the Government did not act when at least 14 warnings from government advisers, MPs, commercial caterers, and health, environmental and animal welfare organisations that voluntary initiatives to improve hospital food were failing.
Journalist and broadcaster Loyd Grossman and five different celebrity chefs have been appointed to lead these voluntary initiatives: Albert Roux, John Benson-Smith, Mark Hix, Anton Edelmann and Heston Blumenthal.