Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of sourcing British food for hospitals on levels of (a) hospital food quality and (b) patient recovery.

All National Health Service trusts are expected to follow NHS England’s guidance, National standards for healthcare food and drink, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-drink/

The guidance promotes the use of healthier, seasonal, and locally sourced food that can cut emissions and the wider environmental impact related to agriculture, transport, storage, and waste across the supply chain and on the NHS estate, while also supporting the local economy.