Ashford & St Peter’s staff catering named best in country for 2nd consecutive year

The catering team at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH) in Surrey has been rated best in the country by colleagues at the Trust for the second year running.

More than 2,500 members of staff at ASPH responded to the 2024 NHS Staff Survey, of which 64.85% responded ‘often’ or ‘always’ to the statement ‘I can eat nutritious and affordable food while I am working’. It was the best result of any NHS organisation in the country and higher than the average of 53.73%.

The response was also an improvement on last year, when 63.56% of staff responded ‘often’ or ‘always’ to the same statement. The survey, run by NHS England, is carried out every year to improve staff experiences across the NHS.

Eimear Jordan, facilities support services manager at ASPH, said: “We are extremely proud that our Trust colleagues have scored us as the best in the country for being able to eat nutritious and affordable food whilst at work. This recognition is testament to the team dedication, and hard work to provide an exemplar service to our colleagues, patients and visitors.”

In 2020, ASPH brought staff catering in-house and used the services of consultancy Neller Davies to ‘transform’ the offering. Neller Davies says the food is freshly prepared, healthy and at an affordable price point.

Neller Davies introduced a new approach to hospital staff catering ‘inspired’ by City of London corporate catering, treating ASPH staff to pop-ups, takeaway dishes, themed days, guest chef events, barbecues, ‘net zero menus’ and an ice-cream parlour.

Julian Fris, founder and principal consultant at Neller Davies, added: “Ashford and St Peter’s is a model site not just within the NHS but even when compared with the business and industry (B&I) catering sector, quite frankly. It’s a great example of where collaboration can truly add value and create better outcomes.”

Since 2020, there has been a 265% increase in turnover and staff productivity has doubled. Transactions are up from 400 to more than 2,000 per day, customer participation rate is 50%, average spend per head increased from £2.36 in 2021 to £3.52 in 2024. Satisfaction scores have also improved from 52% to 71%. 

Following Neller Davies’ success as ASPH, the team has started working with St George’s hospital in London and is already seeing similar success, with income doubling in six weeks, productivity increasing by 47% and satisfaction improving from 46% to 84%.