Culinary colleagues help fellow staff at Glan Clwyd Hospital pick up healthy eating habits

The culinary colleagues are working together to help fellow NHS staff pick up healthy eating habits through the Healthy Food, Healthy Staff initiative.

Every Wednesday from February 5, visitors to the hospital’s canteen will be able to pick up a subsidised meal for just £1. Each meal is served with a recipe card to take home and a free entry into a healthy-eating prize draw

Meals on the menu include vegetable stir-fry, vegan chilli and spiced chicken with butternut squash and beans.

Glan Clwyd staff enjoying a taster event held in the hospital dining room

The subsidised dinner, typically priced at less than a pound, is designed to be both nutritionally balanced and economical to produce.

The recipes have healthy proportions of energy, protein and fibre, contribute to each diner’s five-a-day for fruit and vegetables, and focus on using plant-based, sustainable ingredients.

Susan Brierley-Hobson, Head of Dietetics for the Central area, said: “We received tremendous feedback from staff and visitors about the quality of the food, with many people reporting they’ve adopted the recipes as part of their family meal plans.

“We wanted to find a way of helping staff working at Glan Clwyd to access healthy, nutritious meals."

“Our aim is to enable our staff to eat healthily on a budget while in the workplace, but also to facilitate their ability to take those recipes home and share them with their families.

“The recipe cards feature a nutritional breakdown, and how to scale the meals up or down so that you get the right number of portions.”

The trial will run for eight weeks, with a view to continuing the programme in the future both at Glan Clwyd and other Health Board sites.

The programme aims to inspire staff to access nutritional, affordable food, which is quick and easy to prepare.