BASINGSTOKE hospital is spending nearly £10 a day feeding each patient on its wards.

The figure, which includes all costs supplying the meals, including electricity, labour and sourcing the food, is about average for the region, said Donna Green, chief operating officer of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

It was recently revealed that there is a massive discrepancy nationally between the amounts spent on patient food, from hospital to hospital, ranging from £2.57 a day up to £22.31, according to figures compiled by the NHS Information Centre.

According to separate figures published in October by the Department of Health, average food spending per patient per day was £8.06 in 2009-10.

Mrs Green said the £9.34 total per patient per day across the trust represents good value for money.

She said: “The feedback we have about the food from our patients is generally good.

“We try to source food locally and our own teams cook food using fresh ingredients, which is unusual.

“We are always looking at ways to reduce food wastage – the food that patients do not eat.”

A main meal in Basingstoke hospital costs £3.60 per patient on average, with slightly less being spent on Winchester patients at £3.13.

There is no change anticipated as a result of the recent trusts’ integration, but Mrs Green added that both hospitals would look at what they could learn from one another in terms of catering.

Menu choices include pork casserole with spring vegetables, savoury minced lamb, tomato and basil pasta, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, a choice of vegetables and various desserts, including fruit yoghurt and rice pudding.

Mrs Green said that the hospital gets regular feedback from two independent groups – Patient Voices and Patient Environment Action Group, PEAT, who monitor patient experience.

She said: “They give us feedback about patient experience, including their experience with hospital food, and we use the information to help us move forward.”