A BLIND patient was not told her meal was in front of her at the John Radcliffe Hospital, a damning report on food standards revealed last night.

Hospital bosses had already been told they needed to improve food delivery by the patient group Patient Voice more than two months before yesterday’s Care Quality Commission (CQC) report highlighted similar failings.

The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford has been given 10 days to improve food and the way it is served to patients after CQC inspectors said the hospital had failed to meet the “essential standard”.

They said there was a “lack of urgency” in ensuring patients could eat their meals while they were still warm.

Last night Patient Voice chairman Jacquie Pearce-Gervis said her group had carried out a survey on meals at all the main NHS hospitals in the county. It reported that at the John Radcliffe a blind woman had a tray left near her bed but was ‘obviously unable to see it’. The meal was then removed untouched.

Mrs Pearce-Gervis said the report was given to the ORH and Nuffield Orthopaedic trusts with five recommendations around the beginning of May.

They included a review of the responsibilities of nursing staff with a clear duty to check on individual patient nutrition.

The CQC report followed a visit during May. It highlighted five examples of delays in helping patients to eat their food, while most did not get a chance to wash their hands.

Responding to the CQC report, the ORH Trust, which runs the John Radcliffe, said feeding patients was a nursing responsibility, but added nurses often had “multiple priorities” to deal with.

The CQC said some patients had branded the food “terrible” and “awful”.

Its report said: “Patients have an adequate choice of food and different cultural and dietary requirements are catered for.

“However, we found fundamental systems were not in place for recording different aspects of nutritional care such as patients’ dietary and fluid intake. Malnutrition assessments were not conducted for all relevant patients. While patients received support to eat and drink, this was not always provided in an appropriate or timely way.

“Overall, we found that improvements were needed for this essential standard.”

The service is provided by private contractor Carillion and catering staff are responsible for ensuring food is hot when given to the patient.

The ORH now has 10 days to tell the commission how it plans to improve.

Chief nurse Elaine Strachan-Hall welcomed the CQC report and said a new menu had been introduced since inspectors had visited.

She added: “The trust goes to great lengths to ensure the service we provide to patients is of high quality.

“To achieve this there is a continuous process of reviewing all aspects of patient care. The CQC inspections are part of this process.”

In October 2006, a survey of patients revealed some were not getting help to eat their meals.

In January, the CQC said ORH failed to meet four out of 16 care standards.