Celebrity chef James Martin isn't too happy with hospital food (is anyone?) and he is tackling the issue in a new BBC television series, Operation Hospital Food.
The five-part series will feature Martin working with chefs at Scarborough Hospital to change the food they serve to patients on a small budget of £3.49 per patient per day. The celebrity chef became attached to this issue when he saw the type of food that was being served to his grandmother at York Hospital, where she spent the last few months of her life.
"For someone who'd loved her cakes, her butter and her bacon sandwiches so much, it was heartbreaking," Martin said. "They would bring her mashed potato and meat pies and tarts that were not just appalling but also chewy and tough. Elderly patients who can't swallow just want a bit of soup and ice-cream, because that's all they can manage."