Quality assurance in hospital catering

We tested the satisfaction of patients with their diets at two times in two university hospitals by a standardized questionnaire. Parameters were taste, quality, freshness, variety, temperature, size of portions, and presentation of the food. Psychological aspects of possible relevance to the ranking, loss of appetite and mechanical eating problems were assessed as well. Computerized analysis of the data allowed to recognize dependencies among the parameters. The tests performed in winter revealed a lower satisfaction of patients in the surgical clinic, which is further away from the kitchen. Statistical analysis has shown a significant correlation between the food temperature and patients' overall assessment. This was confirmed by repeated tests in summer. Our results demonstrate the importance of these parameters fo the assessment of food quality Improvement of these provides an effective and cost-saving chance to increase patient satisfaction, and at the same time improve several other parameters as well.