Today we say a fond farewell to Catering Manager, Tim Radcliffe. who will be leaving the Trust after seven years at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Tim has played a key role these last few years and has helped the Trust move to 
the forefront of food catering in the NHS. As Catering Manager, Tim led on initiatives such as the 'Game Initative', which included bringing venison and wildbore on the menu - making us the first NHS organisation in the country to do so - as well as 'Food for Fingers', which was a special, high density menu that was developed for patients who are unable to eat with normal cutlery.
Since December 2020 the Trust has also become one of the eight exemplar sites across NHS England, and has become a leader in food catering for patients.
Tim will be moving on to NHS England where he will be helping roll out the 'Great Food, Good Health' programme, which will ensure standards are maintained and developed in NHS organisations across the country, as well as helping develop new processes to help reduce food waste across different NHS organisations.
Looking back at his favourite moments at ELHT, Tim said: "A memorable highlight for me would be when we were invited on the TV programme 'Food Unwrapped' and described as 'gold standard of hospital catering'. The team 
also won Chef of the Year in 2021, the Public Sector Catering Award 2021, and also the Hospital Caterer of the Year 2022. These were always great occasions for the whole team to be successful.
"Whilst I've been here we've really become an anchor institution within the community, we buy more local produce and use more local suppliers, and have helped employ local people to gain new opportunities through KickStart and the Prince's Trust. Thank you to ELHT for this opportunity."
We thank Tim for all his efforts and wish him all the best in his new role at NHS England.