Every day, The King Edward VII Memorial Hospital Food Service Department has a daunting task -- preparing 900 meals which meet patients personal needs and their therapeutic requirements.

Manager of Administrative Dietetics Mrs. Anne Marie MacKinnon says the department is committed to providing high quality food and nutrition services for its clients.

One of the things that the hospital has done to help achieve a proficient food service is to install a new computer programme.

"In 1993, the hospital purchased a food service computer programme called DFM. This programme allows us to have information at our fingertips'' Mrs.

MacKinnon said. "Before every thing was done manually. The staff had to count the menus by hand. Now everything is scanned automatically.'' All the menus are programmed into the computer based on a 21-day cycle. As the average stay of a patient is between six and seven days the chance of getting the same meal twice is minimal.

Seventy different diets are in the data base which including regular diets, therapeutic diets and Texture modified diets.

Therapeutic diets include diabetic, renal, protein restricted, sodium controlled, and fat restricted. Texture modified diets are also available for people that may need minced food.

A paediatric menu is prepared for children staying in the hospital. This menu is similar to the regular adult menu but has added goodies such as peanut butter sandwiches and fish and chicken nuggets.

Aside from the special diets the hospital also has a list of allergies, dislikes and restrictions. Any nutritional problem a patient may have -- such as the need for extra food, supplements, tubes or intravenous feeding -- is also met.

Special holiday meals are also prepared. Fish cakes and hot cross buns on Good Friday, Sweet Potato Pudding on Guy Fawkes Day and Cassava Pie on Christmas are a few of the favourites.

Each day moe than 300 patients are given individualised menus. Patients are only offered foods that concur with their special needs. They are required to fill in an oval next to their selection on a menu which is then returned to the Diet office and scanned. The menus are then checked to make sure that the patient filled in the menu properly.

"The challenge is then to provide them (the patients) with daily meals that will not only meet their personal needs but also satisfy the therapeutic requirements,'' Mrs. MacKinnon said.

Manager of Clinical Dietetics Mrs. Jessica Wade said the Food Service Department encourages patients to tell them when something is wrong so it can be corrected.

She advised patients to speak with the nurse about any special dietary needs and if necessary a patient can speak to someone in the Dietary Service.

Patients are not the only clients of the hospitals Food Service Department.

Approximately 350 staff and visitors are also served daily through the hospital cafeteria.

The Point of Sales System links the cafeteria to the Diet Office. This system allows the Diet Office to monitor what and how much is sold each day. It also keeps the cafeteria and kitchen connected.

The cafeteria service provides short order, self serve, salad bar, hot food entrees, sandwiches, and a variety of desserts and beverages. The food is provided by the main production staff and a short order cook adds her special touch to the cafeteria service.

A vending service was recently added for service staff and visitors after hours providing salads, sandwiches, microwaveable meals, snack foods, and beverages. A catering service is also offered and may average about 30 caterings per month.

The Food Service Department is in the process of standardising the recipes that are used. Menus are being tested to get a standardised product that can be made with consistency.

Many of the recipes being tested were developed from staff input. "In addition to the recipe collection we are implementing data to run nutrient analysis on all of our products,'' Mrs. MacKinnon said "We will eventually provide our patients with an accurate nutrient analysis on each meal or snack they receive.'' The transition from a manual syste to computerisation is a major one. "We are continuing with the implementation of the computer system with our mandate being total automation by 1996,'' Mrs. MacKinnon said.

She also said the Food Service Department is working to improve its purchasing practices through computerisation.

"This operation is a non-profit business so everything we do or plan must be cost effective without compromising quality,'' she added.