HALF of the hospital food for Greater Glasgow and Clyde – more than 20,000 meal portions a day -- is being made at a new super kitchen at Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock.

More than £10 million has been spent creating two superkitchens – the other is at Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley -- which provide meals to every patient in every hospital in Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The units are two of the most modern, state-of-the-art catering facilities in the UK.

Scott Stirrat, team leader, at the Greenock kitchen

They both cook fresh produce which is then delivered within hours to hospital sites where other trained catering staff heat and serve the food ensuring consistent quality for patients.

The kitchens will cook 15 million patient meal portions every year and will jointly produce 43,000 meal portions per day.

Michael McCall, catering manager for the units, said: “It is all about producing fresh, nutritious, healthy food, moving away from the traditional negative perception of hospital grub.

“The food is prepared at the two sites and divided into individual portions which are then frozen in huge blast freezers the size of a garden shed which preserves freshness and taste. The meals are then delivered to each of the 36 individual hospital sites where the food is reheated in hi-tech mobile ovens.

“We work closely with local catering managers to ensure that patients’ nutritional needs are being met and if patients indicate a particular food they like we do all we can to accommodate their request.”

Based on a typical day’s meal of popular dishes, the following volumes of commodities will be processed each year --

-- 1.3million chicken portions
-- 155,906kg of mince
-- 88,695kg of cauliflower
-- 600,000 sandwiches
-- 2.8million portions each of vegetables and potatoes