Ashford & St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH) in North Surrey joined forces with procurement company Avendra International to ‘transform’ the catering department.
The challenge
Many NHS Trusts face challenges with traditional procurement frameworks that rely on a limited number of national suppliers - offering limited flexibility, choice, or innovation.
Mitie has been awarded a new £11.8 million Facilities Management (FM) contract by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT).
The contract, which includes patient dining, cleaning and waste management, covers King George Hospital and four associated sites: Fanshawe Health Centre, Bates Industrial Estate, South Street and Lyon Road.
Nedko Rusev from Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust with support of Joe Omolo from Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, have been named as the winners of the 2025 NHS Chef of the Year competition.
This is the first time ever that two trusts have merged to form a team in the NHS Chef competition. Their winning menu consisted of saganaki, cauliflower steak with romesco sauce, hake with cauliflower sauce and fig cake.
The Royal Society was the venue for a gathering of doctors, dietitians, caterers, and academics that heard a panel of experts discuss the proposition: Can the NHS Afford to Ignore Food and Nutrition Any Longer?
Tanya Haffner, the dietitian and founder of MyNutriWeb, which hosted the event, said she hoped the discussion would be a crucial step to drawing up a Ten-Point action plan to present to Government.
The Chefs’ Forum has celebrated the successful launch of The Healthcare Chefs’ Knowledge 2: Eating The Rainbow, marking a year of collaboration among NHS England leaders, healthcare chefs, dietitians, catering managers, suppliers, academics and student chefs.
The new reference book, created specifically for healthcare chefs, builds on the progress since the NHS Hospital Food Review (2020) and is the second major educational resource produced by The Chefs’ Forum for the sector.
Two new branded outlets - new Marks and Spencer Food and Costa Coffee - have been opened at Warwick Hospital as part of a ‘significant expansion’ of the retail and food offering for staff and visitors.
The new units are part of major investment by South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust, which partnered with One Retail, Compass Group UK & Ireland’s specialist retail sector, and Noviniti, to transform the Warwick Hospital estate.
A new digital restaurant concept has opened at Colchester Hospital offering all staff, visitors and patients a convenience-led offer serving a range of affordable meals underpinned by a commitment to sustainable sourcing.
The new Kitchen Works restaurant has been created to reduce queuing times and improve the speed of ordering to help busy hospital staff, particularly frontline teams. This will help them to maximise their break times and allow them more time to enjoy their food.
To celebrate World Patient Safety Day (17th September), NHS Supply Chain Food: has launched a new children’s concept recipe book titled ‘Even More Please!’ to help hospital caterers prepare healthy and nutritious meals for children.
The book offers hospital culinary teams healthy and innovative recipes for children and visitors, alongside practical guidance from the NHS Supply Chain: Food Dietetics Team. It includes tips on portion control, the nutritional value of colourful foods and much more.
Berrywood Hospital, part of Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT), has become one of the first hospitals in the UK to achieve the prestigious Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) gold certification.
Berrywood Hospital is a specialist mental health facility that provides meals across its wards and operates a café for staff and visitors. From the outset, the Berrywood catering team set their sights on gold, working in close partnership with the Food for Life team.
ISS, a leader workplace experience and facility management, has launched its maiden restaurant in a healthcare environment at West Middlesex University Hospital (WMUH), part of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The restaurant, which opened on 8th September, has been developed by ISS’s concept-led retail food brand The Place. It aims to fuel WMUH patients and visitors with hearty, nutritious ‘comfort food’ classics and popular high street options.
