Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management offer a first-class catering service to Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, catering for patients and staff across ten sites.
Hospital food services
For patients staying overnight and longer, we provide a wide range of catering service to suit your needs.
We are proud to offer several food options to our patients including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free. We also cater to patients’ specific medical requirements offering a finger foods, stoma and pureed menu.
See some of our menus below:
Main menu
Our main menu features a wide range and variety of options to give our patients the nutrition they need to help them in their recovery. We have meat, vegetarian and vegan options on this menu.
Finger foods menu
Our finger foods menu is designed for those with limited mobility and who may struggle to use cutlery. These meals can be picked up and eaten with minimal mess. Meals from this menu include salmon supreme and sausage casserole. Vegetarian, vegan and GF options are also available from this menu.
Stoma menu
Our stoma menu provides nutritional, balanced meals to patients with a stoma. Meals from this menu include beef casserole and smoked haddock in cheese & chive sauce. Vegetarian, vegan and GF options are also available from this menu.
Out of hours menu
We understand the importance of having a nutritious meal to aid recovery, which is why we offer an out of hours menu should you arrive in between mealtimes. We offer nutritious meals from this menu including spinach and ricotta tortellini and chicken curry.
Pureed menu
For patients with swallowing difficulties we offer a pureed menu. These meals are created to resemble the visual appearance of solid food and feature a rang of options including fish and chips and vegetarian sausage and mash.
Children’s menu
We have a children’s a la carte menu that features options that are staple home favourites.
Patient dining and nutrition
Patient care is our utmost priority which is why we work with nutritionists to identify menu options that are specifically designed to be nutritious and enhance patient recovery.
“Patient safety is always at the core of what we do and we understand how important food and nutrition is in a patients recovery process. This is why we work closely with our inhouse nutritionists and patients to develop a meal plan that works for them.”
Katie Wright, catering superintendent
Staff catering
As well as our patients, it’s important our staff are provided with fresh and nutritious meals to keep them fuelled and energised throughout the day.
We offer an extensive range of food and beverages which complies with CQUIN guidelines on the recommended amount of sugar, salt and fat.
We regularly organise themed days which include a special menu for events such as Chinese New Year.
Recommended by our patients
We’re proud to be recommended by our patients for the quality of our ward food. In the 2024 Patient Lead Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) survey we came first nationally for large acute trusts in the combined food category scoring 99%.