Background: The importance of environmental sustainability in hospital settings is rapidly gaining prominence, which is reflected in both government and organisational objectives. Hospital food services generate a large proportion of total waste in hospitals, however substantial changes to infrastructure, resourcing and processes is often required to combat this. Oral Nutrition Supplements (ONS) are provided by food services at many hospitals and were identified as being a large contributor to food wastage at a 300 bed Melbourne Metropolitan Hospital. Human resourcing and existing procedures dictated that patients’ total supplementary items for one day were to be sent to each ward each morning, with no processes in place for redirecting these items upon a patient discharging. Subsequently, these items were disposed of in general waste. Consultation with food service stakeholders identified concerns around patient safety, and subsequently the wording in the Food Safety Program as barriers for changing the existing processes.
Aim: To reduce wastage of ONS by drawing on evidence regarding microbial safety of packaged food items to inform and revise the Food Safety Program and hospital procedures to facilitate the return of ONS to the kitchen.
Method: A literature review targeting the microbial profile and safety of packaged food items in hospitals was undertaken by the Senior Food Service Dietitian, with findings presented to the Food and Environmental Services Manager. The Dietetics and Allied Health Assistant managers were consulted regarding roles and responsibilities and to help assess capacity for changes in processes.
Results: The Hospital’s Food Safety Program was amended to allow the return of ONS to the kitchen fridge from the ward fridges under strict conditions. The Dietetics Allied Health Assistant commenced weekly collections of the ONS, sanitising and then returning them to the kitchen. This task was added as a responsibility of this role. In the first six months following the changes, a total of 1031 items were collected and saved from landfill, equating to approximately 250kg.
Conclusions: Wastage of ONS in the Hospital was dramatically reduced as a result of small, sustainable changes to Hospital documentation and procedures that allowed for the safe return of ONS from the ward fridges back to the kitchen.