An innovative food service at Balmain Hospital is improving patient experience and nutritional intake, while reducing food waste and allowing patients and their carers to craft bespoke meals through the use of an app.

The Co-Designing Healthy and Enjoyable Food (CHEF) Program was successfully piloted at Bowral Hospital in 2021 and is due to be rolled out across 12 NSW public hospitals over the next three years starting with Balmain.

At Bowral, CHEF has demonstrated positive outcomes, including increased nutritional intake, improved mealtime experiences, and a 52 per cent reduction in food waste.

The model meets modern food service expectations by implementing new ways of ordering via an app, and the ability for carers to make menu selections for their loved ones.

The previous food service model at Balmain Hospital relied on a paper form with limited menu options, taking up staff time and not giving patients variety or much control.

The CHEF menu focuses on providing a greater variety of meals to patients together with a choice of portion size. Several new culturally aligned dishes have also been introduced to the menu.

The CHEF Program improves on current food service delivery by:

• improving patient choice with a new menu which provides better food variety and more contemporary and culturally diverse menu options
• offering flexible meal access including extended service hours and reduced order to serve time
• providing more attractive food options with a focus on food and tray presentation, improved texture, taste and aroma
• improving sustainability by reducing kitchen and plate waste, with zero waste going to landfill.

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Health Ryan Park:

“We know meals in hospitals might never be to Michelin standards, but the CHEF Program is making meals an enjoyable experience that patients look forward to.

“Hospital visits can be a stressful time for patients and their families, and small changes to bigger, better menus and how food is served can make an important difference to the experience.

“The health and wellbeing of patients in our care is a top priority. Increasing the nutritional intake while serving good, enjoyable food for patients during a hospital stay is crucial to their recovery and health outcomes.

“Since the CHEF Program has commenced at Balmain Hospital, already more than 70 per cent of patients say the food taste has improved, and 80 per cent of patients agree food presentation has improved.”

Quotes attributable to Wendy Hughes, Chief Executive at HealthShare NSW:

“We’ve worked hard to create a more sustainable service. CHEF also enables several exciting improvements, including a new menu and digital self-ordering for patients and carers.”

“We’re told the most popular meals on the new menus are crumbed fish, chicken schnitzel, toasties, Thai curry and rice, lasagne, and cottage pie.”

Quotes attributable to Andrea Alano, Head of Nutrition and Dietetics at Balmain Hospital:

“Food is a clinical tool used by dietitians. With meals now being prepared on site, we hope to provide food with improved taste, texture and visual appearance that will in turn improve patient consumption and health outcomes.”

“The recent kitchen refurbishment enabled our hospital to offer a hot-plated service, a wider range of new menu items, and significantly improved plating and presentation options.”