Further to a review conducted in December 2022 which sought feedback from colleagues around the organisation’s out-of-hours catering offer, the Trust is pleased to confirm it has taken the first steps towards making improvements based on your feedback.

Initial improvements have seen the reinstallation of a microwave in The Hub, alongside the return of a freezer stocked with hot meals that are free to collect for those working out-of-hours shifts. The hope is that this will help to address a gap in provision while also ensuring all colleagues can benefit from access to hot meals through the night. This provision will last for a minimum of three months, pending progress made on further medium and long-term recommendations.

QE Facilities will also continue to assist as they continue to assess how our out-of-hours catering offer can be improved to the benefit of our team.

In November 2022, NHS England launched its national standards for healthcare food and drink, while the Trust is also signed up to the BMA Fatigue and Facilities Charter which includes a dedicated section on catering. Short, medium and long-term recommendations within the paper all aim at working towards becoming fully compliant with both, in the ultimate aim of ensuring that we are getting the basics right for all of our #TeamGateshead colleagues.

The Trust would like to thank all colleagues who shared their feedback as part of the review, as well as our catering team and QE Facilities for their assistance in implementing the recommendations. For any related queries, please get in touch on [email protected].