Case Studies

CASE STUDY No 1

A small privately owned 24 bedded nursing home was under pressure from the local EHO to address outstanding structural and operational issues in the kitchen. The kitchen was old and no money had been spent for some time - tiles on walls and floors were cracked & missing, equipment was old and was domestic in nature and wooden cupboards did not provide adequate storage space. Ventilation was poor. Three local staff worked in the kitchen: 1 was a qualified cook who worked 9-5pm and the other ladies covered for her at the weekends and also assisted the clinical staff distribute the meals to clients beds. The staff had no formal training or awareness of HACCP however the kitchen was very clean and the quality of food was excellent as all meals were prepared fresh each day.

On foot of the EHO reports the owner of the nursing home engaged the services of Ashby Food Safety Associates on a consultancy assignment. The terms of reference agreed focused on identifying the most practical approach to design and implement a HACCP food safety management system and advise on a cost effective plan to re-equip and upgrade existing plant and associated repairs and enabling works, within the budgeted allocation.

AFSA adopted a strategy of innovative consistency, whereby a thorough review of existing resources was undertaken and on a basis of determining which items were essential or desirable a sequential refurbishment plan was drawn up. Key elements of the project included:

• prices were sought for refurbishing the walls and flooring with appropriate materials
• provision was made to sink all wiring and pipe-work into the walls thereby providing a smooth and uninterrupted finish.
• The old wooden presses were removed and free standing stainless racking and tabling was purchased.
• A new combination oven, hospital grade dishwasher and upright industrial fridge were purchased.
• Mechanical ventilation was installed. Ceilings, doors etc were made structurally sound and painted.

While this structural work was ongoing provision was made for a contingency supply of meals, utilizing a delivered in range of cook chill food, sandwiches and fruit. This approach gave the opportunity for the catering staff to review the catering services that had been employed, and together look at new ways of delivering a quality food service in line with the redeveloped infrastructure. Following discussions with clinical and nursing staff and the owner it was decided to adopt a central meals system, with meals served in the dining room which would also encourage socializing amongst the residents. Provision was made to serve plated meals to residents who could not get out of bed. A new 3 week cyclic menu was devised with a careful allowance being made to balance the introduction of new dishes whilst retaining old favourites. The Cook was encouraged to become closely involved in maintaining consistent standards, e.g. the Cook wrote out the recipes and quantities to match each week. A dietitian reviewed the menus to ensure they matched the nutritional requirements of the residents.

Training formed a key factor in developing a sound foundation for improvements, and AFSA undertook certified food safety training with all staff to attending. In addition manual handling training was also undertaken and as part of the overall quality control principles and protocols developed by AFSA a comprehensive system of control records were established and maintained. A simple but effective food safety management system was developed and implemented. At all stages of the development project close liaison was maintained with the EHO who was consulted and invited to the nursing to view the changes taking place throughout each of the development phases.

The changes made were so successful and all staff gained great pride in the part they played that the owner is now considering working towards achieving accreditation to ISO quality standards.

Should this case example illustrate similar operational problems in your catering operation, Ashby Food Safety Associates have the capacity and experience to provide practical cost effective solutions – for further information or to arrange an initial discussion please contact Lorraine Oman on 087 2482941, or email at loman@eircom.net

CASE STUDY No 2

A private company employing 60 people was relocating from a city centre premises to the suburbs where it was joining up with its maintenance division in a new build premises. This would effectively double the number of staff on site. Staff in both premises had access to a small kitchenette where they could bring in their own food and make tea/coffee. Some functions and meetings were facilitated by using a local bistro to supply food. Staff also enjoyed having a wide range of food options available within walking distance of their office.

When the decision to relocate was taken provision was made to incorporate a fully furnished kitchen and restaurant in the building and providing a catering service was raised. This would offer catering for staff, visitors and hospitality. A small group was established. A catering survey was conducted amongst personnel to determine their agreement (or otherwise) to the idea, the type of food they would like to see served, and the monies staff would be willing to spend each day. Feedback was positive however it was also important to staff that they could retain the option of bringing in their own food.

Costings were undertaken to determine if it was viable to carry out the catering in-house. Following intensive discussions with the financial department it was decided to go to tender for contract catering rather than establish an in-house catering service. Using the information from the staff survey as a basis tender documentation was drawn up and expressions of interest were sought. These tenders were analyzed and following site visits, presentations and discussions the contract was awarded.

CASE STUDY No 3

A new Board of Management was recently appointed to a well established multi-site healthcare facility which recently underwent redevelopment of the catering department as part of an enhancing of overall service delivery. The catering personnel were in situe for many years with no formal training and minimal supervision. No specific responsibilities within the department were defined. There were severe IR issues on-going coupled with high resistance to change. The situation was compounded by poor hygiene standards, no food safety management system in place and a recent EHO inspection highlighted serious non-compliances in facilities and control systems.

The CEO and HR Manager were keen to tackle myriad of issues to develop the catering services into a high class modern day operation. AFSA Ltd was asked to meet with executive sub-committee to establish what specific approach would be required supported by a detailed development /cost estimate plan. Following the initial familiarisation meeting an A to Z review or auditof all of the facilities within the scope of the operation, along with a series of observations of the existing work methods and day to day catering tasks was carried out. Site visits included informal meetings with key personnel from all disciplines in order to build an accurate picture of how the catering services operated and how the providers of the service and the recipients viewed the quality or otherwise of what was on offer.

An interim report was compiled and presented to the executive sub-committee for comment. This allowed for initial discussions and to firm up on the specific strategy detailing specific parameters/timelines for the project. The interim report also contained an initial action plan of the issues of immediate concern, prioritised for action and research was undertaken into specific areas of costs associated with remedial upgrading and enabling works, a plan for the development of personnel encompassing roles and responsibilities and areas of staff development that would be recommended for adoption.

Given the complexity of this multi-faceted operation a pilot implementation plan was submitted and accepted. AFS Ltd in the role of project manager played a key role in the planning, implementation and monitoring of this stage of the project and by working closely with the key personnel was able to upgrade the plant, equipment and structural standards along with developing the operational tasks associated with the day to day catering activities. As positive progress was on-going with the pilot element of the project, decisions were taken to move ahead with the main strategic plan and section by section of the catering services were enhanced.

Staff development plays a crucial part alongside physical upgrades and the introduction of standard operating procedures developed in conjunction with senior staff enabled new methods to be introduced, which through careful project management by AFS Ltd provided a sound basis for overall improvement.

Throughout the project close liaison with EHO, Dietician and Nursing/Clinical personnel along with other support services staff enhanced the team approach so essential in delivery of a cohesive quality catering service. AFS Ltd established through coaching and mentoring an open approach to communications which greatly assisted the overall awareness of what the catering services was attempting to deliver and the integrated roles that everyone played in ensuring that the desired results were consistently achieved.

To back up the operational tasks developed for the service AFS Ltd provided guidance and support in developing a comprehensive system of records and document controls, encompassing food purchasing specifications, supplier contracts and tendering, product storage controls, internal transfers, production and service monitoring and specific food safety management documents. In addition with regard to the personnel aspects of the service delivery, job specifications, roles and responsibilities and key performance indicators (KPI) were defined and an elementary staff performance system was established in conjunction with HR and staff associations.

As a consequence of AFSA Ltd’s involvement in this project, a number of success factors emerged: feedback on the quality of the service from clients was greatly improved, operating costs were more clearly defined and significantly reduced; local catering management personnel were given more direct control of their own departments operating budget which along with staff training and development enhanced the levels of job satisfaction and ownership for ‘their’ service and as a consequence absenteeism levels fell dramatically.

The senior management keen to acknowledge the gains made adopted a policy of working towards external accreditation.