Anyone watching James Martin and his Hospital Food thing?

[Sparklingbrook]

He's a bit smug, and getting cross already.

What irks me is that the people in charge of procurement are wet behind the ears graduates who've never eaten a proper dinner in their life. It's just pure laziness in the purchasing dept.

Take the soup for example, MUCH cheaper to make fresh than packet crap.

Procurement systems never seem to be that cheap. Ours means tail tickets are v expensive and people can't use their rail cards.

I found it crazy that they were paying more to ship meat half way across the world instead of looking at local cheaper sourcing.

JM seems like he genuinely wants to sort things out. I also like that he doesn't attempt to disguise his northern roots / accent.

This is what I mean DeafLeopard - pure laziness not negotiating with local suppliers.

I thought him getting stroppy about the wards not phoning the numbers through was hilarious!

He clearly has no idea what goes on at 8am on ward and while the numbers are important how about the kitchen calling the wards to find the numbers instead of looking at the phone waiting for it to ring.

I enjoyed the programme though and I like his vision although he is a bit smug at times

I bet he was set up to ask the wards to give the numbers by 8am

There was no chance he'd have the numbers by then!!

"He clearly has no idea what goes on at 8am on ward " - agree, but you can't expect him to know, but by putting the suggestion forward, IIRC they arrived at a compromise time.

That level of waste is shocking and like Horsemad said, down to pure laziness

Hi all. Didn't see today's. What is the problem with going back to the ticky menu things, ordering for the next day?

I thought the nicest bit was when the kitchen staff came up on the ward. Maybe that should happen more? Maybe coming up to the wards getting the numbers might improve relations between the departments - but then I don't know what goes on in a kitchen and how it's run

Sparkling that what happens at our hospital. Still a bit of waste but not as much as Birmingham. I agree wholeheartedly with the suggestion that mealtimes are what the patients look forward to, it's so boring for them it is often the highlight of the day.

I think that way makes sense. The only downside is that you may get the dinner intended for the previous occupant if they have been discharged, but that's not the end of the world.

The trouble with the day before ordering is that for those needing special meals, getting the previous persons dinner isn't enough. In my epic 'no meals for 5 days' admission, part of the problem was that I was moved around between wards and so my food never made it to me. Patients are much more likely to be on the same ward between breakfast and lunch

I feel a bit sorry for the kitchen staff and rather with the facilities management woman. Why on earth did it take a TV chef to realise that basic management systems were needed? Surely that is the job of management, not just the head chef.

Because if they had, pip, then they wouldn't have had a tv prog!

Anyone else drooling over that kitchen with all the fabtastic equipment.

Watched episode 2 on iPlayer and I had ot keep rewinding to check out the ovens and mixers and gadgets.

Anyone watching this morning? Why can't he call the wards?

I thought that X. I am imagining the patients in the HDU trying to munch on a butty because JM is having a strop.

Is it just me, or is this really an hour's programme turned into a week long series with loads of padding? It's sooooo slow!

I missed yesterday's but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Aww, nice for the staff to get good feedback from patients.

Is the nearest market 30 miles away?

Bit worried about Tracey, she doesn't seem to be leadership material.

I think it's brilliant that they got that feedback from the patients, must have really fired them up.

Our hospital only has 2 wards I think it would be great if a member of the kitchen staff came on the ward to get the numbers. At 8am we are in the middle of breakfast, come and see what's going on, talk to the staff, patients, get ideas, inspiration, requests, feedback.

The kitchen staff play such an important role in hospitals I think, where possible, they should be more visible. I admire James Martin for his enthusiasm and his attempt to improve food in the NHS. It's brilliant! Food is as important as medicine and should be treated as such.

Iam really enjoying it but it is a bit long. Having just been released from hospital I am finding it interesting.

Anyone watching today? 3 minutes in and he's still doing the re-cap.

£1000 a week on sandwiches.