FOOD AND NUTRITION DEPARTMENT

SUBMITTED BY, SUBMITTED TO,

K JEYA ISHWARYA DR.SWAPNA SINGH
22MBMH19 [ASSISTANT PROFESSOR]
[MBA – [HC&HM]] *SCHOOL OF
*HOSPITAL FUNCTIONS MANAGEMENT STUDIES*
AND SUPPORT SERVICES*
Slide 1

Ma1 Microsoft account, 16-Apr-23

 INTRODUCTION
 DIETARY SERVICE
MANAGEMENT
 ROLE AND FUNCTIONS
 PLANNING
CONSIDERATIONS
 PHYSICAL QUALITIES
 LAYOUT
 STAFFING
 MANAGERIAL ISSUES
 POLICIES AND
PROCEDURES
 CONTROL AND
EVALUATION MECHANISM
 CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION:
• Dietary services is another important area which aims at improving the
patient care. hospital dietary service is a service which caters to the
needs of outpatients regarding diet and food counselling and provision
of diet to in-patients as per tier requirement considering the nature and
type of disease

• Hospitals these days receive patients of varying nature, with different

cultural background, with varied food habits and with different diseases.

• Dietary service is one of the most important hospital supportive services

contributing to the recovery of health, through scientifically prepared
diets, educating the patients attending the hospitals for treatment
regarding use and utility of different foods and balanced diets.

• The main objective of the department should be to provide a balanced

diet to the patient as per physician's instructions, properly prepared,
distributed in an aesthetic manner and considering his underlying disease
condition wherever applicable.
ROLES AND FUNCTIONS
• Dietary Department is responsible for the selection of food and other
related item and has to have liaison with Purchase Department.
Requirements or all items have to he worked out.
• Some items like vegetables, meat, chicken, etc., have to be purchased
daily arid some items like rice, pulses and oil call be purchased at
weekly / monthly basis.
• The items have to be received inspected and verified as per the ordered
specifications. These are properly stored and supplies issued per meal
everyday.
• Daily menu planning is done including that of therapeutic diets. The
food prepared is then distributed under proper supervision of catering
supervisors / dieticians.
• As such the functions of a hospital dietary services call be grouped
under four headings:
 Inpatient Catering
 Diet Counselling
 Commercial catering
 Education , Training and research
Inpatient Catering:
• It pertains to provision of meals to the patients admitted
in the hospital.
• It should be a balanced diet providing adequate calories,
taking into account the type of underlying illness, any extra
nutritional requirements and the general food habits of
patients in the state.

Diet Counselling:
• This service can he provided as out-patient diet clinics
where patients are referred by clinicians to the dieticians
for calculating their dietary requirements considering the
body weight, height, underlying disease, food habits
availability and acceptability of different foods locally
depending upon the economic condition of each patient.

• Patients are usually given a diet chat to be followed by them

along with the certain foods either to he avoided or to be
preferred.
Commercial Catering:
• The service caters to the needs of staff members who are on duty in
various shifts by way of provision of meals, tea, snacks, cold drinks etc.
• The service usually takes the shape in the form of staff canteens open
from early morning till late evenings and the food provided works out to
be cheaper to the employees when compared lo the costs run by private
parties. Moreover, the administration can control the quality of food
services.
• The hospitals can provide this facility in a separate place other than staff
Canteen and even can have mobile/vending - machines in certain
locations like OPT., Casualty, Ward Block etc,

Education, Training and Research:

• This forms an integral component of any department. The staff of the
hospital like Nurses, Residents, Nursing aids, Technicians, Cooks etc.
could be educated regarding types of foods, their calorie value, balanced
diet, etc.
• Moreover, hospitals having a full fledged dietary service department can
have inservicc teaching programmes for their staff members and others
like diploma in dietitics and therapeutics, diploma in nutrition.
PLANNING CONSIDERATION
Inpatient catering is the major activity or the dietary
department and proper planning leads to the economy of
operation and adds to the efficiency of the service. While
planning wc have to consider:
 Location and site.
 Number of hospital beds and the specialties existing.
 Number of meals served per day and the type of foods to
be served considering the local food habits of the people.
 Catering to staff members of the hospital and number of
employees.
 Extension of facilities to attendants of the p:tlient.
 Centralized vs. decentralized service.
 Type of equipment available.
PHYSICAL FACILITIES AND LAYOUT

• Space requirement

• Layout

 Receipt and storage area

 Day store
 Preparation area
 Cooking area
 Service area
 Washing area
 Other facilities
 Equipments
STAFFING
It may not be possible to generalize the requirement of staff
according to the size of the hospital. It will vary from hospital to
hospital due to the differences in the type of foods served, physical
facilities, equipment, type of service. Following type of
organizational structure is recommended for large hospitals of' 500
beds and above.
MANAGERIAL ISSUES
• The department should be concerned with supply of proper diets
at fixed timings maintaining good hygiene. The quality of
preparation and cooking of different meals should be strictly
monitored. The feed back from the patients and staff to whom the
food is served acts as a control mechanism for improving the
service.

The officer incharge should ensure:

 Regular cleanliness of the food preparation area.
 Regular maintenance of equipment and proper day to day cleaning
of utensils , crockery, cutlery etc,
 Periodical health check up of staff working in department is
essential. This should be done every year. Proper health record of
each employee should be maintained.
 The employees should be given 2-3 sets of uniforms and ensure
they wear it.
 On the Job training of new employees who join the department
should he done.
 Food prepared should be checked by the dieticians
before serving.
 The menu should be displayed.
 Dieticians and officer incharge should make
regular visits towards and enquire from the staff
and the patients about ally observations in the diets
served.
 budgetary provisions act as a regulatory
mechanism to control costs. Working out food
costs regularly (weekly/monthly), helps in guiding
the department.
 Proper maintenance of records in the department
regarding materials received, daily issue, number of
diet etc..
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
1) The Dieticians/Officer Incharge of the dietary services
should be responsible for determining the quantity/quality of
food items to be purchased.
2) Dieticians should form part of the team to identify the
sources of purchase either spot purchase or on rate contract
basis. They should determine the frequency of purchasing
different items.
3) The procedures for purchase should be laid down. It will be
economical and convenient to have most of the food items on
rate contract basis fixed for a year.
4)The food items received should be inspected by a team
comprising of 3-4 members which should include
Dietician/Officer in-charge as well. After receipt of goods the
stocks should be entered in the stock registers and maintain
proper consumption records under the supervision of the
controlling officer.
5) The storage bins, racks, cupboards, refrigerators, coolers etc,
should be properly maintained and kept clean.
6)Proper sanitation and cleanliness including . . rodent control
measures should be observed.
7) A supervisory staff should be available in the patient kitchen
during all the working hours.
8) Work schedule should be planned properly avoiding split shifts as
far as possible.
9) Dieticians should visit the wards everyday and have liaison with
the staff nurses and the patients
10)Nurses sbould also check and supervise the distribution of meals
in the wards.
11)Records pertaining to the diets served should be maintained on
daily basis and compiled on weekly and monthly basis. Cost analysis
of diets should be worked out every week/month.
12) Charges for meals for staff members and visitors should be fixed
by a committee involving management and staff members which
should be reviewed periodically.
CONTROL AND EVALUATION MECHANISM
• Food service department is a major cost-centre and generally labor
intensive. The department should be headed by a trained person in
dietetics and also hotel management/catering. This enables the
department to plan and organize the affairs.

• Officer in-charge of thcdietary services (DieticianlManager) should be

able to organise the staff and its work to achieve the maximum output
at the minimum cost without affecting the quality and nutritional value
of the meals. Cost controls and effective management rely on the
technology of various operating systems and careful resources control
strategies.

• Cost control measures include cost analysis of materials consumed,

working out unit costs and developing standards by adopting standard
costing techniques. With this;ue can develop norIns and also detect any
deviations and take corrective steps. This will also enable budgetary
control and fixing charges for commercial catering purposes.
CONCLUSION:
A good quality of food service is not only necessary for improvement of
health of a patient but also an important aspect for public image of a
hospital. Careful planning, proper layout, adequate equipment, efficient
menu planning, proper cooking, motivated staff and adequate supportive
supervision are essential for a good dietary service. In addition to these
following efforts should be made by the management:
i) Proper and timely purchase of food items.
ii) Inspection-of materials received.
iii) Contacting nurses and patient in the wards by the Dieticians/Jr.
Dieticians1 Catering Supervisors to get feed back from the patient and
ward staff.
On a regular basis the dietary service should be evaluated by undertakings:
 Patient satisfaction surveys
 Food wastage rate
 Physical check for usual impact, temperature of food, taste and variety
of food
 Method of serving
 Method of transportation
 Remarks of patients in suggestion books
 Kitchen hygiene and sanitation
THANK YOU