Visitors sample hospital food at Northampton General

At the last session in July, Gary Wrighting from Silverstone, a patient on Becket Ward, was particularly enthusiastic about the chicken madras. He said: "This is absolutely marvellous. I've tried many things on the menu, and steak and kidney pie has been my favourite so far. But if this curry is served on the ward while I'm here, I'll definitely have some more of that." Catering manager Ricardo Hoyte said: "These sessions are a great opportunity for visitors and staff to taste the quality, and learn about the size of the daily operation. Many people are amazed to discover that we prepare 9000 meals a week, and often surprised that we have just four chefs to do that. "We are proud of providing an in-house service, and we do not use outside caterers. We have a seven-day, Wednesday to Tuesday, three-week rotating cycle of lunch and supper menus. There is a wide selection of carefully chosen dishes, with all menus being continually updated in collaboration with the dietetic department, and reflecting patients' opinions." NGH patient food recently received a score of 'excellent' for the second year running in the 2010 PEAT results published by the National Patient Safety Agency. The hospital was also rated 'good' for cleanliness, infection control and patient environment, and 'good' again for privacy and dignity.