Polish hospital brings in chef from France to improve food for patients

The food served in Polish hospitals does not enjoy the best of reputations, with social media pages dedicated to documenting the uninspiring – and often innutritious – meals often served to patients.

But one hospital in Bolesławiec, a town of 38,000 in western Poland, is hoping to change that by bringing in a chef who spent a decade working at restaurants in France and investing almost 600,000 zloty (€128,000) in new kitchen equipment.

Roasted pumpkin soup, goulash with smoked paprika, and rigatoni with broccoli and chicken were being served at St Luke’s Hospital during a recent visit by public broadcaster TVP.

The menu was prepared under the eye of Klaudiusz Kędzierski, an Austrian-born chef and restaurant manager of Polish origin who grew up in France and Poland and has spent the last decade working as a chef and manager in Burgendy and around Bordeaux, reports health news service Rynek Zdrowia

“This project is unique in Poland,” says Kamil Barczyk, the hospital’s director. “We do not want to offer hospital patients obvious dishes. This cuisine will have a European flavour.”

As well as quality and taste, the emphasis is also on ensuring that patients receive a nutritionally balanced diet, which the hospital notes helps with recovery. Dishes from the new kitchen – which opened on 1 December – are also available for staff and visitors to the hospital.

TVP reports that diners will every day be offered a choice of meat, vegetarian or vegan dishes. Among the complaints often made about Polish hospital food is that those who do not eat meat are given no options.

As far back as 2009, Poland’s state audit office (NIK) published a report based on inspections of hospital food which found that it was often of poor quality, had incorrectly balanced calorific value in half of cases, and sometimes contained dangerous bacteria.

A further NIK report in 2018 identified similar problems, including meals with low nutritional value and high fat and salt content, reports news service i.pl.

Earlier this year, the health ministry published draft plans to set new nutrition and quality requirements that would improve the quality of hospital food.

They are currently undergoing public consultation, though the Association of Polish Counties (ZPP) – a local government organisation – has already warned the measures would significantly increase costs.

Main image credit: Szpital św. Łukasza w Bolesławcu/Facebook

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.