28 February 2003
A £60m campaign to clean up hospitals and provide better food is working, health minister Lord Hunt said this week.
A Department of Health survey found that almost 60% of hospitals now have good standards of cleanliness and have been given the top, green, rating.
The remaining 40% are rated acceptable and have been given a yellow rating.
No hospital was awarded a red rating for unacceptably poor cleanliness, a significant improvement on three years ago when 35% received the poor rating.
Lord Hunt added that NHS food inspections show that one in six hospitals offered meals of 'good' quality, while 81% had an 'acceptable' standard of catering. Food at 15 hospitals (2%) was poor.
He said the results were good news but cautioned against complacency. 'These are long-term programmes and the significant challenges cannot be fixed overnight.'
He added that no hospital should have a red rating for food by the end of the year and refreshments will be offered to those waiting in accident and emergency departments.
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