Food glorious food! At Changi General Hospital, patients are passionate about the food they eat. Staying in the hospital, meal times are usually a delightful highlight for our patients. With food at the heart of our patients and patients at the heart of the hospital, the Dietetics & Catering Department has introduced a new menu that gives patients greater variety.

From pineapple pork chop, mutton vindaloo, steamed fish and spiced chicken, new dishes that look and taste yummy are introduced. These goodies and more are served together with steamed rice and side portions of vegetables in the new selective menus.

With a choice of Chinese to Muslim, western to vegetarian, patients can now take their pick from a full range of dishes including the low-salt, low-fat, diabetic and soft diets. Patients in A- and B-class wards have an additional choice of a Western menu which includes items like roast chicken and roast pork with apple sauce.

To spice up these dishes, different sorts of herbs like Rosemary and Thyme are also used to replace traditional condiments like ginger and garlic which were used previously. Muslims patients also get to choose from a menu that includes mee soto, tamarind chicken and stuffed beancurd.

From choosing the freshest ingredients, to thinking up healthy menus and using healthy cooking methods, much thought goes into the food served to our patients. The team behind the hospital food are the F&B executives and chefs who look after the preparation of food.

The chefs behind the woks are Executive chef Johnny Chua and Sous chef Derek Ho. Johnny has an impressive 20-year career as a caterer and chef in hotels and restaurants including Dai-Ichi Hotel & Seoul Garden. Derek has 10 years of catering experience at Orchard Hotel and St Luke's Hospital. About thrice a month, Derek harvests cherry tomatoes from our hydroponics garden and uses them as ingredients in patients' meals. Very importantly, the Kitchen, together with dieticians, pay special attention to the nutritional value and special dietary needs to ensure balanced diets.

At the hospital, we believe in serving patients food that is good enough for ourselves. So a group of hospital staff, including administrators, executives, nurses and clerical staff take turns to sample the food served in the wards regularly. Staff will sample the food for taste, quality and presentation.

Indeed, all the recipes from the Kitchen are ISO-controlled to ensure a consistency in quality, taste and standards. With monthly CIAS audits, stringent standards of hygiene in the kitchen are ensured. Regular tests are conducted for contamination on equipment and storage facilities. Inspections are also made to ensure that supplies of ingre-dients are properly "date-coded", so that ingredients are in tip-top condition. Tests on food samples are also done monthly.

With continuous improvement as the buzzword at the hospital, a tie-up with Shatec is in the pipeline to provide comprehensive training to ward staff on the softer skills of serving and presentation of food. Certified Halal by MUIS in April 2000, the Kitchen is fully equipped to cook up Halal meals for our Muslim patients.

Patients have an additional choice of a Western set in Ward A- and B-Class.

Commemorating the new menu, the media including various publications were invited for a food-tasting session where various dishes were laid out for various press members to sample. Food critic Margaret Chan was invited to critique the food for taste and presentation. As Sous chef Derek Ho says: "We adopt the attitude that when we cook, we cook as if it is for our mothers.''