Toxic waste, sharps waste, hazardous waste. They’re all bad, but there’s one kind of waste that’s hitting hospital wallets hard – and it’s all the fault of the catering.
According to the Scotsman, Scottish hospitals are suffering record levels of food waste, with staff throwing away an average of 590 untouched or partially-eaten meals EVERY DAY last year, costing the government more than £1 million.
While figures estimate that around 215,300 meals were binned in 2014/15, the number is likely to be higher as some hospitals failed to track waste from privately operated catering services.
Poor food and more waste
Health chiefs have claimed that the food waste is most likely a result of ill patients unable to eat, but Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw has claimed that the waste is thanks to poorly made food.
Carlaw said, “Inevitably some meals will not be consumed, but this will surely be less likely to start with if they are both appealing and beneficial in the first place. These new figures add injury to a hospital food farce which has gone on for too long. Disgusting doesn’t cover it.”
Second helpings for catering services
The shoddy state of hospital food has been well-documented by patients in the past, yet the £87 million spent on catering services from NHS Scotland has shown no sign of improving matters.
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