COMMUNICATIONS

CDHB Implements New Food Preparation System

The Canterbury District Health Board is implementing a new food preparation system where meals are prepared at the Hillmorton site in bulk before being rapidly chilled and transported to other Christchurch hospitals.

Under the FlavaFresh system, which will be introduced to all five hospitals by August, about half of all food used in patient meals will be cooked, packaged and chilled at a temperature of less than 4 degrees Celsius before being distributed. After it is delivered to each of the sites, the food will be heated and served to patients.

The rest of the food, mainly fruit and vegetables, will be prepared fresh at each of the sites. Until now, all food has been prepared and cooked from scratch before being served to patients.

The aim of the new system - which is being delivered through a contract with Compass Group’s healthcare division, Medirest – is to ensure that the quality and nutritional value of the more than 2,000 meals given to patients each day is the same across all hospitals.

The new preparation system will run in conjunction with the Catering to You system, which has been introduced to Burwood, Christchurch and Christchurch Women’s hospitals.

Under the Catering to You system, each patient has their own catering associate, who greets them on arrival in their ward, offers them a choice of food before every meal time and delivers their meal to them on the ward.

New menus, including those for patients with special diets, have been designed by Medirest dietitians to account for the new preparation system.

Canterbury District Health Board Support Services Manager Rachel Cadle says the FlavaFresh recipes have been developed to meet the challenge of producing meals that cater to 25 different diets every day.

“Initial trials from the new kitchen have produced food that not only looks better but has an enhanced taste and texture. The food served to patients will be more flavoursome, appealing to the eye and will also be more nutritious.”

New equipment, including a cool room, a chiller, ovens and kettles, has also been installed in the Hillmorton Hospital kitchen in the past month to enable the new system to be implemented.

ENDS