Bushey Fields Hospital

08/02/2017

Bushey Fields Hospital, part of the Dudley & Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust in the West Midlands, offers specialist assessment, care and treatment for people who are experiencing mental health difficulties. The wards’ teams work with individuals, their families and their carers to understand the nature of their mental health difficulties and up to 80 members of staff including nurses, doctors and support workers can be on duty at Bushey Fields at any one time.

Although the hospital provides high quality, accredited 24-hour care for patients, staff were having to improvise when it came to their own meal solutions as the site did not offer any staff catering facilities – other than basic kitchen facilities in a rest room and a vending machine.

“This was an unsatisfactory situation as staff were either having to bring their own hot food in from home, or spend their breaks driving 10 minutes to the nearest shop,” comments Helen McVerry, Catering Manager for the Trust. “This wasn’t always a practical or attractive option, especially at night.”

A recent patient menu change – which now includes a soup and sandwich combination – sparked a number of requests from staff asking if they could have something similar. Working with her catering supplier Midland Chilled Foods, Helen found a solution in the shape of single serve soup pots from The Real Soup Company!

A two-hour taster trial on a specially designated day attracted more than 100 members of staff and the popularity of the individual pots of fresh soup convinced Helen that she had a ready-made meal solution – and a great sales opportunity – at her fingertips! With the staff vending machine now stocked with the generous 380g pots in three favourite flavours, sales have rocketed and employees benefit from easy access to a quick and healthy meal at any time of the day or night.

Specially developed for the single-serve market, The Real Soup Co’s soup pots are ideal for use in vending, grab & go and workplace catering environments – anywhere, in fact, where there’s a microwave to heat them up!

Offering all the taste and appearance of a fresh ‘homemade’ soup and featuring a protective sleeve for safety and hand comfort, the pots contain one generous portion and are available in five flavours – Tomato & Basil, Carrot & Coriander, Leek & Potato, Lentil and Thai Chicken. Like all of The Real Soup Co’s soups (available in 4kg catering tubs), they conform to FSA 2012 salt guidelines.

“The soup pots are an ideal solution to our staff catering challenges,” adds Helen. “Quick and easy to heat, they provide a nutritious and satisfying snack whenever it’s required.”

“The soup pots are an ideal solution to our staff catering challenges,” adds Helen. “Quick and easy to heat, they provide a nutritious and satisfying snack whenever it’s required.”