A Fantastic Start to Chefs Academy 2024

NHS Supply Chain: Food’s Culinary and Dietetics team has kicked off the new year with the first of many Chefs Academy events at Warrington and Vale Royal College and The Christie Foundation Trust.

Over the two days, NHS chefs and culinary members came together to take part in live cooking demonstrations, hands-on cooking sessions and expert-led training by the Culinary team, aimed to inspire and motivate members both inside and outside the kitchen.

Chefs Academy members were also trained by the Dietetics team on the vital role of nutrition in patient care, emphasising the importance of nourishing patients, visitors, and staff members and highlighting their pivotal role in promoting health and wellbeing.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the kitchens, attendees experimented with products from NHS supply chain frameworks, explored delicious recipes from the Khana Khana and Root Kitchen culinary concepts, and practised and perfected new culinary skills, this time, creating Choux pastries. The team couldn’t run a Chefs Academy event on Shrove Tuesday without a pancake flipping competition, congratulations to Andrew from Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for your worthy win!

A highlight of the events was the presence of Dylan Lucas, current NHS Chef of the Year, and Samantha Lee, Category Manager. Their expertise and passion for culinary excellence inspired attendees and reinforced the significance of culinary innovation and skill within the healthcare industry.

Chefs Academy events are always popular with the trusts I support in the Manchester region. Catering Managers, Supervisors, Chefs and Assistants all see the benefit of attending. As well as brushing up on target skills and gaining an understanding of our Culinary Concepts, all attendees are given a classroom learning session with our Nutrition and Dietetics team. My favourite part of the day is always lunch time – and not just because of the delicious food. Seeing the delegates use the valuable opportunity to network with like- minded colleagues from other trusts: problem solving and ideas sharing is definitely an added bonus. Together, we are all stronger. I look forward to welcoming many more new faces to events in my area going forwards.

Ellen Clayton, Food Account Manager, NHS Supply Chain Food.

The Christie Foundation Trust Chefs Academy event was a truly amazing event, thank you so much to the NHS Supply Chain Food team for inspiring The Christie Catering team, and showing the possibilities they can achieve through fresh food and innovation. The team loved it, our visitors loved it and our colleagues were blown away with the counter today. When can you all come back?

Richard Timperley, Senior Catering Manager, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

A huge congratulations to the team for scoring an amazing 9.8/10 rating at The Christie Foundation Trust and an incredible 9.3/10 rating at Warrington and Vale Royal College.
Thank you to everyone who got involved over the last two events. The team are excited to continue the momentum over the next year and are working on developing the Chefs Academy events which are set to get bigger and better, so keep your eyes peeled.

• Teach new culinary skills through a practical, hands-on learning approach.
• Inspire NHS chefs by introducing them to new, tasty recipes and show how NHS Supply Chain: Food Culinary Concepts can be adapted and recreated within their trust.
• Give insights into the National Food Review and the mandatory NHS food standards.
• Understand the importance of nutrition and dietetics within the hospital setting.
• Foster discussion and collaboration with other NHS chefs to create great food, while also providing the opportunity to share best practices.

For more information on our Chefs Academies and Culinary Concepts, please get in touch with your local Food Client Account Manager or contact our NHS Supply Chain: Food team.