Master hospital chefs improving nutrition for patients
Master chefs – Peter Wright-Hofmeister and Rahul Raj
For hospital chef duo Peter Wright-Hofmeister and Rahul Raj, improving the experience of patients at The Prince Charles Hospital (TPCH) through nutritious and interesting meals is a passion.
The two experienced chefs, who work as part of the TPCH Food Service team preparing and delivering 1,600 meals each day at the Chermside hospital, recently teamed up at one of Australia’s most prominent food industry conferences to display their culinary skills.
Competing against teams from prominent private and public hospitals, Peter and Rahul successfully won the Institute of Hospitality in Health Care Conference’s culinary competition, with their herb crusted barramundi with spinach, fondant potatoes, radish, pea puree and citrus beurre blanc.
Between Peter and Rahul, the pair have spent almost half a century in the hospitality industry, managing kitchens in some the world’s most reputable hotel chains, restaurants, cruise lines and other Queensland hospitals.
Their culinary expertise is now benefitting patients at TPCH who can access a range of tasty meals via an innovative Room Service model.
In 2019, TPCH became the first public hospital in Queensland to introduce the Room Service initiative which enables patients to order meals on demand, rather than at set times. Inpatients can place their meal orders by calling the menu office or using the hospital’s meal ordering app anytime while the kitchen is open. Meals are then directly delivered to patients by Food Service team members within 45 minute.
TPCH Cook and Room Service Attendant Peter Wright-Hofmeister said that providing a meal service in large hospital like TPCH is challenging but very rewarding.
“Our kitchen operates from 6.30am to 7pm daily, with around 130 staff working across the week supporting the preparation, creation and serving of meals,” Peter said.
“My role is to ensure hospital food tastes good and is cooked in line with set recipes to meet patients’ clinical dietary requirements.
“Because patients have such varying nutritional requirements, it’s essential we can offer a large range of interesting options. Our most popular meal choices are apple crumble, scrambled eggs and roast meals.”
As Site Coordinator Food Services, Rahul Raj is responsible for supporting kitchen supervisors to oversee the day-to-day operations of supplying patients with high quality and nutritious meals.
“During peak periods, our staff work together non-stop to process all the orders and ensure meals are delivered in a timely way,” Rahul said
“Providing a timely and nutritious meal service to our patients is part of providing a positive hospital experience and serves to improve patients’ nutritional status and recovery while they are here.”