The Source
Beautiful writing about delicious British food. Articles, comments and musings from our contributors.
From farm-fresh veg to sunshine salads - MKUH brings spring onto patient and staff plates
Love British Food caught up with Frank Fiore, catering manager at Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH), to hear how the Trust's seasonal sourcing story is developing as winter gives way to spring.
Frank and his team continue their mission to build more British, seasonal produce into patient meals and the staff restaurant. For Frank, this means adapting menus in line with the growing cycle of fresh produce, utilising close supplier relationships, and relying on his chef's instinct to bring local, quality ingredients onto hospital plates wherever possible.
For Frank, spring is not just about changing weather, it is a chance to add lighter, more vibrant flavours.
"When there's sunshine outside the window, it encourages you to want to eat something seasonal, refreshing and colourful," he says.
"It makes your plate reflect what's going on outside."
Spring flavours
That enthusiasm is shaping the spring and summer offer. The first asparagus of the season has arrived through local supply routes, with Frank's team using it in the staff restaurant as part of a sausage, chorizo and asparagus pasta.
“One of the big pluses for me was that there were people who had never eaten asparagus before. They tried it for the first time in our staff restaurant,” he says.
That kind of moment matters to Frank. Hospital catering, he believes, can introduce people to new ingredients, inspire confidence and show how seasonal British produce can be used in simple, enjoyable ways.
“It’s important to listen to people’s feedback. Someone said they had never wanted to pick up asparagus in a shop because they didn’t know what it tasted like or how to cook it. Trying it at work, cooked by someone experienced, is a perfect way to give your taste buds the chance to experience something new,” he adds.
Rhubarb is also on the seasonal ingredient list. Frank has used it in the staff restaurant in a traditional crumble with custard, while also introducing it to patients.
"I'm more restricted when it comes to patient meals. But I do like a challenge! This time we were able to serve a ll think of a way of getting that local rhubarb onto patients' plates while it's in season," he adds.
New menus
MKUH launched its spring/summer patient menu on 29 April, followed soon after by the staff restaurant's warmer-weather offer. For patients, some favourites, such as cottage pie, remain because they are familiar,
nourishing and suitable for different clinical and texture requirements, but warmer months also create space for salads, sandwiches and lighter options.
"Over summer, especially when it starts to get hot, our take-up on salads and sandwiches goes up significantly," says Frank.
"That's a positive thing because we can influence those dishes with more seasonal changes, because we make them in-house."
The team is planning a ‘salad of the week’, shaped by what is locally available. Courgettes, roasted seasonal vegetables, broad beans and mixed bean salads are all considered as ways to bring more colour, nutrition and interest to dishes. Frank is clear that a hospital salad should be more than lettuce, cucumber and tomato.
"You've got to be creative with that part of the food offer as much as you are with the hot choices," he says.
Food for warmer days
In the staff restaurant, the shift is towards quicker, lighter food. Wraps feature prominently, filled with British chicken, pork, seasonal vegetables and a blend of beef and plant-based protein meatballs, continuing Frank’s interest in balanced, creative dishes that feel satisfying.
The noodle bar has been refreshed, and while Indian, Chinese themed days remain, a newly introduced Taste of Spain day, features freshly prepared paella, helping keep a broad range of world flavours on the menu.
Fridays are taking a healthier turn for staff, with loaded flatbreads and lighter sides being launched.
“We’re doing two different flatbreads – lemon, ginger and garlic chicken, mixed roast peppers and feta, and a pulled pork that we’re making in-house, and then different salads to go with it,” adds Frank.
Those sides include shredded cabbage, olives, coleslaw, rocket and spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, corn on the cob and sweet potatoes.
Alongside seasonal variety, patient nutrition and wellbeing remains at the heart of each decision. Frank is conscious that hospitals can be warm places in summer, and that patients may be less inclined to choose hot food. Lighter meals, salads, sandwiches, soups and good hydration therefore become even more important.
Frank’s team offers five of the seven daily drinks provided to patients, as well as changing water jugs.
MKUH has recently introduced new hydration trolleys, making it easier for teams to move around the wards. Over the summer months, Frank is planning to introduce cold flavoured drinks as an additional option alongside tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
“I think that will encourage hydration if patients have a cold drink to choose from as well,” he says.
Ongoing ambitions
Frank is realistic about the limitations of the hospital's patient catering model. Main meals are still supplied, plated and chilled before being cooked at ward level. But he is determined to add fresh, local, in-house elements wherever he can.
A recent visit from BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme helped him see how much he’s achieved, with the radio show featuring two diners who’d visited the staff restaurant on their day off because they enjoyed the food and felt it offered quality and value.
“That was such an amazing bit of feedback,” Frank says.
That realisation of the impact his fresh-seasonal-British ethos is having has sharpened Frank’s ambition.
"Bit by bit, I want to trickle in home-cooked food, bearing in mind the facilities I have, using the local suppliers I use."
Such positive responses from staff, visitors and patients have reinforced Frank's belief that NHS food has a positive story to tell.
Expanding the staff restaurant offer
One key development in the pipeline is the expansion and upgrade of MKUH’s staff restaurant facilities. The work will increase dining space and include improvements to the kitchen, reflecting the growth of Milton Keynes and the population the hospital serves.
Once work begins, the team will operate from a temporary kitchen and dining space, but Frank is determined to maintain as much of the current offer as possible.
Working with local growers and suppliers
Dependable suppliers remain central to MKUH's sourcing story. AB Fruits continues to connect the hospital with local farms and growers supplying produce as it comes into season. Frank keeps in close contact with suppliers, even following them on social media to spot what is coming through.
"When they post that they've just got something from a local farm, I'm like, yes, I'll have that," he says.
He is also looking for ways to improve everyday staples. One ambition is to source better quality sliced bread for patients from a local baker. A possible option was identified, but the bakery could not meet the volume required.
"The loaf itself had fewer ingredients, it was fresher and a bit more homemade than the industrial ones.
Unfortunately, they couldn't meet our demand, so I'm still looking to achieve that," says Frank.
Local eggs are another goal, particularly for the staff restaurant and for patients prescribed a cooked breakfast because of nutritional needs.
As spring turns into summer, his focus remains on integrating more local, seasonal and freshly prepared food into hospital catering wherever he can.
"I'm always thinking about how I can interject that seasonal, farm-to-fork story into my patients' food," he says.
For Frank, making British your first choice is not a slogan. It is a practical, daily relationship between growers, suppliers, chefs, ward teams, patients and staff. And at MKUH this spring, that relationship is in full bloom.
Why note read the other blogs in our Inside Britain’s Sourcing Story blogs [LINKS]
Share:
You may also be interested in...
