Improving food experiences

HealthShare NSW is using BHI’s Adult Admitted Patient Survey in innovative ways to learn about patients’ experiences of food services and measure the impact of changes to food service programs.

Correlation analysis examined the quantitative results of the question, ‘How would you rate the food you were served while in hospital?’, respondent characteristics data from the survey, and internal HealthShare NSW operational data. This showed that patients:

• admitted to smaller, rural hospitals offered cooked, fresh meals were more likely to be satisfied with the food
• at hospitals with higher default rates (when patients do not choose their meal) and those with longstanding health conditions were less likely to be satisfied.

HealthShare NSW has a structured approach to reviewing the qualitative data from patients’ comments in response to the two free-text questions in the survey. From the more than 2,000 comments provided in the Adult Admitted Patient Survey 2023 that were related to food and drink, it was found that patients were more likely to be positive when they had a positive experience with staff.

From the more than 2,000 comments provided in the Adult Admitted Patient Survey 2023 that were related to food and drink, it was found that patients were more likely to be positive when they had a positive experience with staff.

In response to these insights, HealthShare NSW developed a strategic action plan to further improve patients' meal experiences. The 2024 actions will be reviewed against the quarterly patient comments as they are provided by BHI. The actions include:

• a focus on staff training to improve meal presentation
• the increased use of HealthShare NSW’s Food Production Unit and
• sharing patient feedback and actions with local health district partners.

HealthShare NSW will replicates this approach with its cleaning services.

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