St vincent’s Health australia’s plan to save millions

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AustrAliA’s leAding business mAgAzine for heAlth & Aged cAre mAnAgers 11/12 | 13www.hospitalandagedcare.com.au

EnvironmEntal StratEgy:

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St vincent’s Health australia’s plan to save millions

14 | hospital & aGEDCaRE | November_December 2013

Good food, people and technology produces 12500 meals a week at the SAN

QuAlity food production in hospital and aged care settings is like running a catering heptathlon, involving the key logistical steps of planning, procurement, quality control, preparation, distribution, hygiene and disposal.

Like the challenging athletic event, facilities have to succeed across all seven disciplines to be successful, but that is where the similarity ends with hospitals and aged care kitchens having to triumph 24 x 7, 52 weeks a year.

As Food Services Production Manager Food Services at the Sydney Adventist Hospital (SAN), Arthur Faulks is a veteran campaigner in hospital food production. In his current capacity he has led his team for 12 years, and has been involved in health and aged care catering for about 20 years.

He is a member of the NSW Food Authority Vulnerable Persons Food Safety Scheme Consultative Committee representing the Private Hospitals Association and a recent committee member of the Institute of Hospitality in Healthcare organisation as NSW representative.

Faulks politely declines to reveal the SAN’s budget for plating up 12,500 meals a week , which includes meals for staff, hospital visitors, special functions and other outlets, but agrees that its not insignificant.

“We have more than 75 people on our food service roster to deliver those 12500 meals a week. 25 per cent of our meals may be served as a special diet. Our greatest challenge is creating and providing a menu that not only meets the broad cross-section of cultural and dietary requirements but is nutritious and enjoyed by our diverse range of patients and customers,” Faulks says.

He says as an acute care hospital it very important to serve fresh food throughout the facility and that as an Adventist institution which advocates vegetarianism, the menu for patients has always had a strong focus on vegetarian choices but also has simple meat options as well.

Most of the facilities function and café outlets reaffirm the philosophy and mission of the organisation by offering only vegetarian choices.

“We pride ourselves in producing the majority of our menu items, particularly the soups and the vegetarian options, and only use

ProDuciNg 12500 meals a week, for varyiNg Diets aND the maNy fuNctioNs of a major hosPital takes gooD fooD aND PeoPle. fooD services ProDuctioN maNager at the syDNey aDveNtist hosPital, arthur faulks (below) tells DaviD hutchiNs how he miNimises the challeNge.

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Food ANd NutritioN - loGiSticS REPORTs

a small quantity of pre-made or convenience products on our patient menu” he says.

Faulks is pragmatic when asked how he resolves the logistical challenges of providing nourishing meals 24 X 7, with producing coming in and out and out of season, mass production creating headaches, in an environment in which failure is not an option.

“Logistical challenges are never really resolved, only reduced and new challenges always arise. The use of technology including computer systems, equipment and monitoring help in meeting these challenges.

“Developing strong relationships with fresh fruit and vegetable providores, grocery suppliers and even the manufacturers is essential,” he says, hinting with chef ’s pride that in his business you’re only as good as your ingredients, suppliers and most importantly the team around you.

“Having a relationship with manufacturers will add influence to assist in developing products and packaging that are suitable for the health and aged care sector,” he says.

Equally dietitians play a significant role in menu development, so Faulks says, creating strong relationships and lines of communication are beneficial, while staff training in food safety, OH&S and quality standards is essential. Cross training of staff also helps with consistency, as

does standard recipes, menu flexibility, purchasing systems and product specifications,” he says.

He agrees that no single link of the food service chain is greater than the other key elements.

“Many factors must combine seamlessly to ensure we can serve the best meals week in and week out. Dietary analysis of all the ingredients used on the premises helps with allergen control and risk management and planning back-up procedures and contingencies in case any part of system fails all critical components for quality performance.

“All of the above will assist with controlling the logistical challenges but issues can and will arise which are out of your control. When this occurs communicating with your customer/patient is important and most will be understanding,” Faulks says wryly.

Hospital, health and aged care facilities have harnessed many innovative technologies but usually its life saving medical instruments that attract attention. Faulks says SAN Food Services has also embraced the latest technologies, particularly when they can be applied to save money and reduce wastage.

He says even though the SAN is predominantly a “cook fresh meal service”, he uses a blast chiller because it assists in meeting food safety guidelines and improves the quality

of products like sandwiches, salads, desserts, chilling leftovers more efficiently and decreasing the time taken to cool products prior to service.

“We are currently undergoing a total kitchen renovation and we will be installing new or improved technology to meet the volume required to service the 200 new beds coming online in 2014,” he says, offering a picture of what his new kitchen will include:.

The technology includes:• Various size kettles and stirring Brat Pan for

soup, sauce, mash potato, stir-fry and casserole production

• Pump-fill bagging and Cryovac machines for soups, sauces and pre-portioning

• More blast chillers for the increased volume and the extended shelf-life products

• Hot/Cold motor drive food delivery trolleys to get the food to the patient fresher and hotter

• More programmable Combi ovens for general cooking and Sous Vide cooking of meats, wet dishes and some miscellaneous products to meet food safety time & temperature requirements and improve the quality of products

• Improving / extending our temperature monitoring system to meet food safety requirements

• More dishwashers to meet the demand and reduce manual labour

• A Fruit & vegetable washer• Separate areas for recipe preparation to

reduce cross contamination and improve recipe consistency

• Increased cool room and freezer storage• Installation of IT screens in the kitchen

used for visual displays of each meal presentation, refrigeration monitoring and trolley location monitoring“All of these technologies will assist with

improving efficiencies throughout our food production processes.

“An example is being able to produce products during weekdays for the weekend menu and then reduce labour over these days. Also sauces etc can be produced in volume to cover more than one menu day,” Faulks says, maintaining that for his food services technical wizardry must add value to make it worthwhile.

He agreed that blast chillers could rate as a vital technology, alongside from ovens pots and pans, because of what they offer in terms of prolonging shelf life, reducing waste, and preventing contamination, but still, they are only one part of the puzzle.

“Blast chillers are an important piece of




“haviNg a relatioNshiP with maNufacturers will aDD iNflueNce to assist iN DeveloPiNg ProDucts aND PackagiNg that are suitable for the health aND ageD care sector. DietitiaNs caN Play a sigNificaNt role iN meNu DeveloPmeNt, so creatiNg a stroNg relatioNshiP aND liNes of commuNicatioN caN be very beNeficial, which traDitioNally has Not always beeN the case iN this sector”

technology but they are only a link in a chain of a number of technologies that can be used will assist with the above issues.

“Technology includes software systems and hardware like laptops and iPads (used for menu collection, dietary analysis, menu development, purchasing, financial processing, issuing, inventory control, production forecasting and lots of other features usually all in one system), programmable combi-ovens for sous vide and controlled cooking and reheating.

“Others include vacuum packing machines, fruit & vegetable washers, automatic slicers that can be loaded and left freeing staff for other tasks, temperature monitoring software to reduce paper shuffling and increase accuracy, stirring kettles and brat pans to increase productivity,” he says, adding that advantages are constantly being sought at each stage of the food service chain, with a lot attention given to reducing waste.

“We currently forecast our production needs with information technology and adjust these through gathered data and we record wastage in some areas at different times to review the suitability of menu items.

We are also investigating a ‘room service’ model to service some of our patients. This includes having a 1 day menu where patients can order food when they like similar to a hotel room service.

Recognising that facilities such as the SAN has a critical requirement to efficiently and

economically deliver the most nutritious meals to the campus’ clients, patients residents, he offers his primary strategy for ongoing improvement of his food services.

“We use our knowledge of our customers and our business to react to changes and trends and use researchers on small projects to take measurements to refine our service. We regularly monitor the popularity of menu items and adjust menus accordingly.

“We consistently perform dietary analysis for suitability of ingredients for multiple diets to reduce risk and inventory and we benchmarking with similar sized organisations.

“Also its about staying in touch and current with trends in the food service industry through associations, publications, conferences, trade exhibitions and supplier communications and looking for ways to use these on our menus,” he says.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of Adventist HealthCare Limited Dr Leon Clark says the facility’s emphasis on serving good health food is part of its heritage as the Sydney Adventist Hospital started in 1903 as a ‘Sanitarium’ to provide a place of healing where people learned to stay well.

“Today we are the largest single site not-for-profit facility in NSW and have 360 beds, more than 2,200 staff and 750 accredited medical

practitioners and offer comprehensive surgical, medical, and emergency services to over 50,000 inpatients and 175,000 outpatients each year

“As a division of Adventist HealthCare Limited caring for our patients needs remains our first priority. This spirit of caring is reflected in our mission, “Christianity in Action – caring for the body, mind and spirit of our patients, colleagues, community and ourselves.”

We aim to care for individuals in a holistic manner, promoting healthy living, providing healing treatments and touching people’s lives through our compassionate and expert care. As an Adventist institution which advocates vegetarianism, the hospital historically capitalised on its position in the leafy green belt of the Upper North Shore by producing our own catering supplies. We grew fruit and vegetables and farmed cows for milk.

“Today, we source supplies from reputable growers and manufacturers and pride ourselves that nutrition remains a San hallmark. San Food Services’ efficient and quality practices support our overarching mission and our corporate goals of being a benchmark healthcare provider in Australia,” Clark says.




arthur faulks and his team ensures meals at the saN are produced with the freshest of ingredients.

blast chillers, such as this irinox unit at the earlyrise baking company in Dubbo, Nsw save resources, reduce wastage and help prevent food spoiling.

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St vincent’s Health australia’s plan to save millions