Kitchen manager, Darren Cadwell with members of his team and their 5 Star Hygiene certificate
Catering staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital are celebrating after winning a five star food rating for the seventh successive year.
The award comes after an unannounced visit by Environmental Health inspectors from Blackpool Council to check the kitchens, food preparation and cooking, food hygiene systems and temperature records.
Kitchen manager, Darren Cadwell, said the news was a major boost for staff and patients.
He said: “To have the five star rating again is absolutely fantastic, but for me anything less is not a second thought.
“As a hospital we have to have five stars and it really does make all the hard work that goes into making 3,000 meals a day worth it.’’
He added: “We regularly have 700 patients in the hospital on one day who require breakfast, dinner and tea, as well as all the staff who work here and visitors.
“Hygiene is vitally important to us and we carry out daily, weekly and monthly inspections to ensure our kitchen is top class, and all our staff are given hygiene training.
“I am very proud of the achievements we have received.
“This is a first class kitchen with first class staff.”
Senior site services manager for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Yvonne Widdows, said: “This award is a real achievement when you think about the amount of food we produce here every day, but it’s important to us that we stay on top of our food safety requirements all the time.
“Patients, visitors and staff can continue to have confidence in the standards of catering services they are receiving and that we produce food in a safe manner.
“We know how important meals are to our patients and it can often be the highlight of their day. “I’d like to say thank you to the team for all their hard work; it really is a team effort to achieve these results.”