Taste testing sessions were conducted by representatives from Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals and Sodexo catering suppliers, to provide an opportunity to listen to the communities’ thoughts on the new catering provisions.
The sessions were held at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Bassetlaw Hospital and Montagu Hospital on behalf of the Patient Experience team. Each of these sessions were facilitated by the Learning Disability Nursing team and members of the catering team, employed by the Trust’s contractors, Sodexo.
The food options were scored by the volunteers according to how well they rated the taste, texture, and the temperature of the meals served.
The Trust’s learning disability lead was keen to invite members of the community who would be able to provide insights into any additional requirements or support that a patient might need. The learning disability liaison nurses contacted some of the local learning disability support services and asked if they could help recruit volunteers to visit their local hospital to take part in the tasting sessions. The Trust was fortunate to have Tim, a local resident from the Bassetlaw area who lives with a learning disability, volunteer to join the catering team at Bassetlaw Hospital in their menu tasting session.
Evie Messom, Learning Disability Liaison Nurse at DBTH, met with Tim during the session. Evie said: “As a Trust, we recognise that meeting the nutritional needs of all is vital in maintaining and improving our patient’s health and wellbeing. For those living with a learning disability, they may require additional reasonable adjustments to support safe nutrition. They may also have additional sensory needs that impact on patients experience of foods.”
“We included our local community with learning disabilities to help us better understand the diverse needs of all and ensure that adjustments have been considered in menu planning. It is important to us that our food offer is right for everyone and those with learning disabilities can have their voices heard as part of our improvement plans.”
Simon Brown, Acting Deputy Chief Nurse and Trust Learning Disability Lead, said: “By collaborating and engaging with patients in the decision-making process, it helps us to make better decisions regarding a patients experience and care.”
“I am fortunate to work alongside a dynamic team of two acute learning disability liaison nurses and a network of 120 learning disability ambassadors, who are key to ensuring we deliver an outstanding experience to our most vulnerable patients, this is one of many examples of patient engagements which has proved beneficial for our Trust and our community.”
Tim evaluated the selection of food available for inpatients whilst they stay in our care and he provided many thoughtful and valuable comments, along with expressing the importance of reducing food waste. He also advised that the descriptions of some of the food items could mislead a patient, which could impact on a patient selecting the wrong meal for their requirements.
DBTH, and particularly the Learning Disability Liaison team, want to thank Tim for his time and enthusiasm, and for helping the Trust ensure the food served is the best it can be for patients.