Ailsa Hospital is the place to dine out

May 29 2009 by Stuart Wilson

Ailsa Hospital

IT’S the hospital where members of the public are dining out.

Good food at even better prices has made the Ailsa one of Ayrshire’s top restaurants.

A dedicated catering team has turned the tide on ward food’s negative image.

And they’ve become Scotland’s first hospital to land a coveted healthy living award.

Now the public are tucking in alongside patients to the country’s best hospital grub.

“The aim was to make the staff healthier,” explains Isabella Dickie, of NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Her title is hotel services manager, and one look around the Ailsa tells you it’s run like a top class establishment.

Isabella added: “We provide the same kind of accomodation services as a hotel, hence the job title.

“What we’re doing with our food at the Ailsa is pretty simple but it’s so effective.

“The menu has less salt, more fibre, and healthier types of oil are used to cook the food.

“Everything is prepared using healthier ingredients and we’ve been now been recognised for making that effort.”

Ailsa is currently Scotland’s only hospital to boast the coveted Healthyliving Award Plus.

And although patients eat from a menu devised by health chiefs in Edinburgh, their food still comes from the same award-winning kitchen.

Now the public are turning up in their droves to taste the difference.

Catering manager Lesley Morris said: “The Courtyard restaurant has a high profile and this award can only help.

“We have 35 catering staff preparing over 1000 meals a day and the standards are very high.

“Environmental health set us very strict guidelines on hygiene and we’ve made broad changes to how the food is prepared here over a long period of time.

“It’s all about choice though, and it’s not like we only serve fruit and vegetables.

“The menu is wide and varied, but the key is being healthy.”