The authors conclude that the best food, the best service and the greatest attention to patients' needs were given in the best small hospitals. The larger the hospital, the greater were the difficulties of catering, the lower the efficiency in its administration and the poorer the quality of the food as served. There was excessive waste of food from prepared meals sent to the wards, and this waste was higher in larger hospitals than in small ones. The tendency to overcook vegetables and the long delays in the service of meals damaged the food, causing serious loss of vitamin C in potatoes and vegetables.
The authors concede that many shortcomings derived from out-dated buildings and the problems of providing large numbers of meals at about the same time, over a wide area from a central kitchen. They consider, nevertheless, that the general picture could be improved in various ways, including better liaison between ward and catering staff, and greater interest on the part of medical, nursing and dietetic staff in the feeding of patients who do not require special diets. They suggest that the status of catering officers should be raised, and that dietitians should be less exclusively interested in the provision of special diets.
The final chapter discusses possible new policies for hospital feeding, introducing new techniques. The team that carried out the survey is now experimenting with these with the help of a grant from the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust.