New menu for inpatients brings big changes

Royal Bolton Hospital feeding team (Image: Bolton NHS Foundation Trust)

A new menu has been created for patients at Royal Bolton Hospital who have difficulty using knives.

The Royal Bolton Hospital provides finger food menus on request to support patients with complex needs.

To create the menu, the hospital’s catering team worked with speech therapists and dementia colleagues to understand how many patients would benefit from changes to the current menu.

Nutritionists then developed a menu of finger foods to support patients who struggled to use cutlery when eating.

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David Neilson, senior nurse at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The finger food menu has been trialled in our complex care wards to help people living with conditions such as dementia receive nutritional support. It’s specifically designed to maintain volume.” , no time limit.

“This increases the opportunity for patients to receive good nutrition and reduces the likelihood of malnutrition within the patient population.”

The acute speech therapy team was invited to take part in the project and test foods including options such as salmon supreme, vegetable bolognese bites, sausage casserole bites, potato wedges and miniature croquettes.

iFM Catering Manager Jason Waggett said: “The introduction of finger food menus makes it easier for patients to grasp food with their fingers, encouraging them to eat more and helping them recover faster during their hospital stay.”

“I am pleased to say that a full menu of finger foods is now available at Royal Bolton Hospital and available upon request from ward managers.

“Thank you for your input and efforts to make this a success.”

This menu has proven successful in hospital wards with patients, their relatives and the staff who care for them.

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