Wanganui and Palmerston North Hospital patients receive ‘red tray’ meal time help

02/06/2011 | Red Tray Initiative

Patients in Wanganui and Palmerston North Hospitals needing help opening their food, or needing help and encouragement to eat at meal times are now getting that help through a “red tray” initiative started last year.

The red tray idea came from an innovation in patient service conference Spotless staff attended in the United States, and there was also positive feedback from local nurses who had worked with it in Britain.

An initial trial was started in two Palmerston North Hospital wards last year, and after a successful evaluation it was rolled out across the hospital, and this year at Wanganui Hospital as well.

Patients requiring increased observation or assistance, opening meal packages or with eating, were identified, ‘red-flagged’ and their meal was served on a red tray. This visibly shows the patient may need help with eating and drinking and could require recording of nutritional intake. Initially in the two trial wards at Palmerston North Hospital between six to nine out of 32 patients needed a red tray. However, in Palmerston North the average day now sees about 19 red tray patients out of around 200 meals served throughout the hospital. In Wanganui on average six patients receive red trays daily.

Initially all patients receiving a red tray also had their food and fluid intakes recorded, but that has now been reduced to only those patients requiring monitoring.

As well, it was thought those requiring red trays may be some patients who had extensive surgery and needed help for only short periods; however that hasn’t been the case over the period of the project. It has been found that all but two patients who have ever had the red tray have needed it for their whole stay in hospital.

Nurses initiate the ‘red tray’ help after assessing whether a patient needs help or encouragement at meal times, and nurses enter which patients require red trays on the Trendcare electronic system.

Now with the recent introduction of the Buckeye electronic meal ordering system at both Palmerston North and Wanganui Hospitals, it downloads meal information from Trendcare. Changes can be made up to just before meal periods start, including changed patient arrivals and discharges and even late red tray requests.

Kitchen staff are alerted to a particular patient’s need for food to be put on a red tray, and when it arrives in a ward, ward care assistants or nurses are on hand to provide any help to those patients needing it, or extra time to finish their meals.

This is a very good prelude to the next project - protective meal times – that, if adopted, will see patients being free to eat their meals without interruptions from staff requiring varying tests, doctors round visits, and other medical work in patient wards during meal times.

Whanganui District Health Board senior communications and media advisor Sue Campion, telephone (06) 348-1312; or MidCentral District Health Board communications spokesperson Dennis Geddis (06) 350-8900.