It’s estimated that up to 18% of food in hospitals is wasted, which is the equivalent of 1 in every 6 meals. As well as creating significant financial costs for hospitals, food waste also has an environmental impact and can affect the NHS’s goal for sustainable healthcare.

Three reasons why reducing food waste in hospitals is so important:

• Improving patient care – tailored meal ordering ensures patients receive the food they want and need, reducing untouched meals. Food that is not eaten also has no nutritional value and is not supporting a patient’s recovery.
• Lowering environmental impact – as well as the food being thrown away, the carbon emissions generated through growing, transporting and preparing a meal are wasted.
• Saving costs – food waste costs the NHS millions of pounds a year, therefore less waste can lead to significant cost savings.

What can be done?

There are a few ways food waste can be reduced, and one of the main solutions is to introduce an electronic catering system.

By using an electronic catering system, hospitals and healthcare providers can:

• Improve top-up and stock control, reducing over-ordering.
• Reduce plate waste, as patients get their first choice of meal.
• Take orders closer to meal service times, leading to more accurate meal preparation.
• Eliminate paper and digitise the process, saving up to £15k annually.
• Improve inventory management by linking inventory to ward usage data.
• Automatically collect and send orders straight to the kitchen, saving staff time and reducing the risk of manual errors.

As well as these solutions to cut food waste, CO₂ dashboards can also contribute to the NHS’s sustainability goals by tracking the carbon footprint of each meal, analysing CO₂ data alongside meal popularity to replace or adjust high-carbon dishes, and reducing waste across the whole process to lower the overall carbon footprint of the hospital.

Reducing waste across the NHS is more than a cost-saving measure – it’s vital in improving patient care and securing a sustainable future for healthcare. Systems like Synbiotix X-Cater enable hospitals to tackle waste at every level, making a measurable difference in efficiency, sustainability and patient satisfaction.

For more information on how Synbiotix can help, get in touch at sales@synbiotix.com or visit www.synbiotix.com.