T00110 – People-Centred, Low Carbon Healthcare Catering Solution.

Descriptions

Further to the Prior Information Notice issued on 9.4.2013 (2013/S 069-114762), the 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is now seeking expressions of interest to enable a People-Centred, Low Carbon Healthcare Catering Solution for the Trust.The contract will cover the delivery of healthcare catering services for patients, staff and visitors, and must be operational by October 2014.Since the previous contract was agreed in 2009, significant changes have occurred in relation to the provision of catering services in the health care setting. This includes patient, visitor and staff expectations and the Trusts environmental and carbon reduction.Patient mealtimes and nutrition is an integral part of patient care and is supported by Care Quality Commission outcome 5 Meeting Nutritional Needs. New and emerging catering service models, and innovative technologies have the potential to offer benefits in terms of patient outcomes, efficiency, quality, sustainability and carbon reduction in conjunction with the Department of Health eight principles of hospital food (October 2012) supported by Age UK, Patients Association, Hospital Caterers Association, Royal College Of Nursing, SOIL Association and British Dietetic Association.The Trust needs to reflect these changes and the new catering contract will need to deliver a modern, people centred, low carbon catering service. The Trust is using this opportunity to re-evaluate patient, staff and visitor catering requirements and explore alternative delivery models. The Trust requires flexible and regularly rotated menus in a user friendly style demonstrating nutritional content and descriptors. Menus are also to be agreed with the Trust and promote local and seasonal produce to include sustainable fish.Monitoring; The Trust fully supports patient led auditing and encourages open forums to discuss feedback and mystery food tasting is fully operational and will be looking at a supplier to fully support these initiatives. The Trust is committed to providing meaningful employment opportunities to service users and currently delivers certificated Food Safety Training to inpatients. The successful supplier will be required to support this scheme of supported employment and opportunities.The Trust has consulted with internal stakeholders and consumer organisations to determine what staff, patients and visitors need and has developed an outcome-based requirement (see below) in which we aim to capture the key outcomes the Trust requires from a modern and progressive catering service. The Trust would be particularly interested in demonstrating innovative people centred, low carbon approaches.Outcome based requirements:The Trust wish to procure a catering service for:— Patients— Staff/visitors and hospitalityThe Trust requires a patient catering provision that is innovative, an integrated solution for the provision of high quality, patient- appropriate meals that are enjoyable, attractive, support patient recovery and is delivered as an integral part of the nursing care.Key outcomes:The Trust requires an integrated catering service that:— Demonstrates a positive change in both patient mealtime experience and nutritional care;— Facilitates patient recovery;— Enables involvement of nursing staff in meal provision;— Delivers the right meal and nutrition to patients when required;— Is flexible and versatile – for example meeting the diversity of dietetic, ethnic and cultural requirements, being available when needed outside core ‘meal times';— Provides mechanisms for a constructive interface with clinical and nursing staff and patients for monitoring performance and service development.Restaurant / Café Facilities:Staff/visitor/hospitalities:Deliver wide choice of quality food and drinks at affordable prices in a relaxed social setting.Support employment opportunities for service users in conjunction with the TrustAccess to facilities to meet demands of customersEnvironmentally sustainableThe Trust has high environmental standards and is attuned to the rising costs of energy and carbon.The Trust requires the following outcomes:— Continuous carbon reduction over the life of the contract;— Supply chain purchasing / local seasonal sourcing;— Reduction in food plate and preparation waste;— A step change in the environmental sustainability of catering services;— Innovation in line with Waste Legislation (2015) food waste disposal / recycling to zero % going to landfill.