Hospital bosses have been urged by Bake Off judge Prue Leith to abandon set meal times in an effort to encourage patients to eat.
A team of experts headed by the celebrity chef was asked to undertake a root-and-branch review into hospital food by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
It follows mounting complaints and NHS figures showing three patients die every day as a result of malnutrition.
Bake Off judge Prue Leith to abandon set meal times in an effort to encourage patients to eat
There has been criticism over the quality of food served in hospitals in the country
The team’s 93-page report seen by The Mail on Sunday, also calls for ‘dinnertime companions’, communal dining areas and ‘cutting sandwiches into quarters and adding a garnish’. It says patients should be given iPads to order meals online.
But last night, health professionals poured scorn on the idea.
Dr Jim Stewart, a consultant gastroenterologist, said the report was ‘missing the fundamental complexity involved with feeding sick people’. And Wendy-Ling Relph, matron for nutrition at East Kent University Hospital Trust, said that many of the recommendations were unrealistic.
She said: ‘Wards are busier than ever, with patients sicker than they have ever been.
‘Most patients don’t want to move far from their bed – and are too sick to do so.’
