Patients can order meals at the touch of a button
Patients are benefitting from a new meal system which makes ordering food easier and cuts down on waste.
Using an app on a tablet operated at their bedside or on the ward by a housekeeper, patients at Hillingdon Hospital can choose their meal from the daily selection.
The order appears in real time on a screen in the preparation area of Choices restaurant on the lower ground floor, where members of the Facilities Catering Team ‘pick and pack’ the meal for dispatch to the ward, where housekeepers serve it to the patient.
Called ‘menuPick’, the system, from health technology company Synbiotix, went live on Monday 17 April.
"Our teams have adapted to the new process very well,” said Facilities Manager, Anne Byrne. “It’s easy to use after the proper training and makes for a seamless process linking the wards and the catering area.
No more paper forms to fill in, speedier processes and plenty of data for us to use, to help us cut down on food waste and deliver an even better service.
The system is integrated with that of the Trust’s patient meal supplier, Apetito, and uses pictures as well as meal descriptions on the menu.
This is the latest in a trio of recent digital innovations to help modernise Estates and Facilities services, following the successful introduction of e-portering and digital cleaning audits.
Picture: Top: A young patient on one of the childrens' wards – with a bit of help from mum – orders her next meal from housekeeper Helen Sophola. Above: Catering staff operating the order screen.