“At Ardgowan Hospice, our kitchen team strive to provide a wide variety of nutritious meals for our patients. We want patients to feel at home while in the hospice, and one of the ways we can achieve this is by offering good, wholesome food daily. We want every meal to feel like a homecooked meal so we prepare everything on site using fresh ingredients.” – Bridget Maunders, Facilities Manger
Patients in our In-Patient Unit will be offered 3 meals a day along with snacks if requested. Families and other visitors are always welcome to tuck into a bowl of soup or enjoy freshly baked biscuits while visiting. We pride ourselves in the personal touch at Ardgowan Hospice. Each day our chefs engage with patients in one-to-one chats about their needs and wants for the day. This allows our team to get to know each patient on a personal level, helping them to tailor menus suited to each patients likes and dislikes.
We also cater for our Day Hospice users and drop in groups with plenty of tea, coffee, sandwiches and other treats to go around.
The overall Patient & Family Satisfaction with IPU catering currently sits at 98% with glowing feedback given by both patients and families. You can read some of this feedback, along with more information on our catering by clicking the drop down boxes below.
If you have questions about our catering, please use the contact form to get in touch
We use high quality ingredients bought locally to ensure our patients receive the freshest, and tastiest, food possible.
Anything and everything! Our team uses the fresh ingredients to create a varied menu to meet our patients wants and nutritional needs. Our aim is to do everything we can to enable people who have lost their appetite through illness or treatment to enjoy food again.
We aim to provide a varied and changing menu freshly prepared daily, accommodating preferences, cultural needs, food allergies, portion sizes and more.
There is always a choice if the menu offered is not suitable. The team will be happy to prepare an alternative – omelettes, toasties, sandwiches, salads, hospice milkshakes, hot chocolate, smoothies, herbal and fruit teas etc. As we strive to improve our service the catering team welcome feedback.
If a patient has a special request (see “Requests” dropdown), we will do our best to meet that request.
Protected Meals Times are periods of time throughout the day when all non-urgent activities will stop. This pause allows patients to eat, or, where necessary, be helped to eat, in their own time without distraction and interruption. We welcome visitors who wish to help their relative or friend at meals time, however we ask that visitors please check with a member of the nursing team first.
Breakfast: 08:00 to 09:00
Lunch: 12:30 to 13:30
Dinner: 17:00 to 18:00
While we do have Protected Meal Times (see “Protected Meal Times” section), if a patient is hungry outside of these hours their needs will be happily met. With staff on hand 24 hours a day, we are able to provide a light snack or something more substantial no matter the time of day.
Service of meals takes place in the ward. Alternative locations for dining can also be provided.
We aim to make Ardgowan Hospice a homely, welcoming place, so to make patients feel at home we do our best to meet any special requests they may have.
Requests can include:
- Requesting larger handled cutlery
- Asking for a specific meal – perhaps a favourite or a craving
- Wanting a specific cereal for breakfast
- Wanting larger or smaller portions
- Wanting more of a specific item they enjoyed
- Asking for finger food
We’ve even sent a member of the team out to the local chippy when a patient took a fancy for fish and chips!
We will ask if patients have special dietary requirements and ensure these needs are met. We aim to provide a varied and changing menu and are happy to accommodate any particular preference whenever possible. If a patient has a food allergy, or a special dietary requirement, a member of the catering team will prepare a meal to suit.
We can provide a range of options, including:
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten Free
- Nut Free
- Dairy Free
- Low Sodium
- Low Fibre
- Diabetic Diet
- Pureed Diet
- Cultural and Religious Diets
and more
We’re proud of the feedback our team receives, here are a few choice compliments
- “Soup was absolutely beautiful, it reminded me of my mother”
- “Wow to the pudding!”
- “Curry was magic”
- “Lasagne absolutely lovely”
- “Fantastic cheeseburger”
- “I want to marry the cook”
- “Amazing chips”
- “The gluten free quiche was excellent”
- “Macaroni and cheese and garlic bread went down a treat”
Overall Patient & Family Satisfaction with IPU catering – 98%
As in all areas of the hospice, hygiene is paramount. The kitchen is frequently cleaned and the staff practice safe hand hygiene. Plates, bowls, cutlery etc are fully sterilised between meals. If a patient has a specific dietary requirement, their meals are prepared separately and utensils are kept and cleaned in a separate tub to avoid any cross contamination.
Water jugs are refreshed morning, noon and night. They can also be refreshed at any time upon request.
