General   (General discussion, talk about anything.)

When I first went to work for NHS, the state of hospital kitchens was appalling. Any inspection would have had them closed down. But they claimed crown immunity, and refused to allow inspections by food standards authority.

NHS only lost this crown immunity in 1991.

It resulted from the salmonella food poisoning scandal of August 1984 at the NHS Stanley Royd Hospital in Wakefield. 355 patients and 106 members of staff poisoned due to poor food hygiene practices. The outbreak caused or contributed to the death of 19 patients. A public Inquiry found that cause of the outbreak was salmonella which was probably brought into the kitchen in contaminated chickens and cold roast beef was the most likely vehicle of the infection. The infection was able to multiply because the beef was not properly refrigerated. It had been cooked, cooled and left in the open for 10 hours before being served with a salad. A number of unhygienic and unsatisfactory practices were found to have been allowed to go unchecked in the kitchen.