Two chefs from The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust (QEH) have participated in the final of NHS Chef 2021, a national competition bringing together NHS chefs from across England to battle it out for the crown.
James Frusher and Teresa Ferriera, part of QEH’s 80-strong catering team, reached the finals on Thursday 3 November, achieving second place out of 223 total entrants. They were just pipped to the post, losing in the final to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Hosted by NHS England and NHS Improvement, the competition has been developed to bring colleagues across the sector together to recognise and celebrate their excellence. NHS Chef 2021 also includes a mentoring event and practical sessions, highlighting the best of NHS catering, chefs’ skills, catering knowledge and menu engineering.
James and Teresa took part in twelve technical challenges over two weeks, before reaching the grand final held at Warminster Cookery School in Wiltshire. The challenges explored a range of criteria, including plant-based meals, zero waste and meals designed specifically for children.
The team work hard to ensure that the patients of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk consistently receive high quality meals to meet a range of nutritional needs. Good nutrition and hydration in hospitals can reduce recovery times, improve patient outcomes and reduce costs to the NHS and wider society. The dishes created throughout the competition prove what is possible within the usual budget, timings and presentation constraints of a hospital.
Chef Teresa commented: “We’re so proud of our success in the competition, the standard of the chefs taking part has been really high. We worked incredibly hard throughout – the challenges and coaching pushed us out of our comfort zone and has been fantastic experience which we’ll take back to QEH for our patients.”
Chef James commented: “This competition has been all about highlighting the talent of chefs working in the NHS and raising awareness about the expertise needed to support patient care and recovery. We’re really proud to have received such positive feedback throughout the competition and the knowledge we’ve gained will be built back into our work at QEH.”
Caroline Shaw CBE, Chief Executive at QEH added: “We are all so proud of James and Teresa for their fantastic achievement in the NHS Chef 2021 competition, and for their continued hard work and dedication to our patients. Well done James and Teresa!”
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For further information, please contact communicationsQEH@qehkl.nhs.uk
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