Mealtimes

Breakfast 8am
Morning Tea/Coffee 10am
Soup of the day 11.40am
Lunch 12.30pm
Afternoon Tea/Coffee 3pm
Evening Tea 5pm
Night Snack 7.45pm

Breakfast Service
At breakfast time our patients receive a choice of fruit juices, cereals including porridge, and a choice of toast or selections of bread with butter or low fat spread and preserves.

Lunch Service
Lunch service includes fresh homemade soup prepared daily. Hot lunch is served with fresh vegetables and potatoes. A lighter option of salad or sandwich is available. All our desserts are baked fresh on the day.

Tea Service
Evening tea consists of hot choice of the day, scrambled egg or freshly made salad or sandwich.

Snack Service Tea, coffee and snacks are available to patients throughout the day.

If patients are not hungry at these set meal times we provide light refreshments throughout the day.

Our Aims

Management and staff of the catering department aim to ensure the best quality food and service are available to all our clients.

We will give you the chance to choose foods you like eating, get them to you at the right time and serve them in a friendly and efficient manner.

Menus are designed to ensure a variety of foods are available to suit all tastes including ethnic minorities.

Meals are served within the shortest possible timeframe to ensure quality presentation and taste.

Being a patient in hospital and having to fit in with set mealtime is not always easy. You may feel sick or be away from the ward at meal times. Therefore we will try to make meal times as comfortable for you as possible.

Menu Policy

A variety of portion sizes are available, small, medium and large

Healthy Options include:
Fresh fruit
Fresh juice
Yoghurts (Full fat/diet)
Low fat milk
Low fat menu options
Low fat salad dressings
Low-low spreads
Wholemeal bread

Patient Feedback
We want you to let us know what you think about the food and meal service (good or bad); if you have any comments please pass them on to the catering staff or management.
Comment Cards are available from the Catering Department.

Catering Department
In order to assist the catering Department to provide a high quality service, and to be aware of any deficiencies in the existing service, patients are asked to fill in the following questionnaire.

Name__________________ Ward ___________________

Length of Stay_____________ Date_____________________

Type of Diet Normal Special If Special please specify_____________

How do you rate the catering service?

Please give your views on the Catering Service provided by ticking the appropriate box
Excellent
Good
Fair

Menu Variety:
Taste of Food
Temperatures of Food Served
Size of Portion
Speed of Service

Presentation of Meal:
Temperatures of Beverages
Standard of Service, Courtesy etc
Cleanliness of Delph and Cutlery

2. General Comments:
______________________________________________________

Refreshment for visitors

There is a privately run cafeteria open daily (8:30am-9:00pm) to both visitors and staff on level 2 at the new entrance to the hospital.
The cafeteria serves a vast selection of sandwiches, cakes and tea/coffee.
Vending facilities are located on level 1 beside the main lifts.

Special Diets

We acknowledge that in some cases, patients may require a special diet. We strive to ensure that these are catered for at all levels;

The Catering department in Naas Hospital was one of the first locations to introduce special modified meal systems. These pureed meals are provided for patients without the ability to chew, swallow, or digest food properly. These meals are nutritionally enhanced to ensure increased protein and carbohydrate intake.

For patients with limited ability to chew or swallow we provide a chopped or minced diet, therefore maintaining the quality of taste and texture of each meal.

Diabetic meals are probably the most common of the special diets. Catering personnel monitor each diabetic patient specific calorie intake. To ensure a varied diabetic diet our daily menu, is designed to incorporate a wide range of calorie conscience meals.

Renal diet foods are prepared separately by our chefs to ensure the restriction of potassium is achieved and regulated in each meal.

While preparing all our patient meals we pay particular attention to fat content, maintaining low fat and low cholesterol diet throughout the hospital.

The Irish Hearth Foundation endorsed this in 2004, when the Catering Department was awarded the Happy Heart Award.

Recipe Corner

Simple meals in minutes

Chicken with Spinach Pesto

Ingredients (4 Adults)

4 Chicken fillets

8oZ Penne pasta

Small jar (150ml) pesto

1 Bag fresh spinach

1 Garlic clove

1 White onion

1 Tub Crème fresh (500ml)

Pinch Salt/Pepper

Pinch Nutmeg

Knob Butter (Low fat margarine can also be used)

2oz Block of Parmesan Cheese

***********************************************
Dice the chicken fillets into small bite size pieces
Add 1-diced onion to a hot non-stick pan using a little oil
Add the diced chicken, cover with lid, and sweat till tender
Remove chicken, using the same pan add crushed garlic and a knob of butter or margarine.
Add spinach to the pan and cook gently for 2 mins
Cook pasta off as directed by packet- cook till al-dente
Put the cooked chicken and pasta into the mixture in the pan
Cook gently for 2-3 mins till heated thoroughly
Add jar of pesto and the crème fresh
Remove when fully heated. Serve with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.
Will go down nicely with a chilled fruity chardonnay.
Provided by Patrica & Marcella