Announcing the catering change, CEO Phillip Balmer said the new service was part of the hospital’s dedication to providing first-rate care, tailored to each patient.
“Hospital food is traditionally seen as bland, boring and delivered in a take-it-or-leave-it manner which doesn’t fit our patient-centred style of care,” Phillip said.
“Offering freedom of choice in both menu and timing is a much better patient experience.
“We have top-notch caregivers, we are proud of our stellar patient net promoter score of 86 and by introducing room service we’re giving people in the Mid West even more reason to stay close to home for their care.
“Our goal is to provide top-level health care regionally which is better, safer, faster to access and more convenient than options elsewhere.”
St John of God Health Care is the first private health care organisation to introduce room service as a nationwide model, with St John of God Geraldton Hospital completing the rollout.
Group CEO Bryan Pyne said the change had been a success not only from a patient satisfaction perspective but also supports nutrition, sustainability and financial stewardship.
“A major bonus of the change is the positive impact it’s had on both food waste and cost,” he said.
“This change has had positive sustainability outcome, reducing food waste by 24 per cent in the 2024 financial year.
“As an added benefit we anticipate annual cost savings of around $5.4 million on both food and production costs.”
“Our caregivers also find it more rewarding because it’s an interactive service which gets a great response and they can engage with patients to help them make nutrition choices that aid recovery.”
Patients are able to order from the room service menu throughout the day, with orders taken through our Perth and Bendigo call centres. Our call centres handled more than 1.3 million calls last financial year with an average queue time of just 50 seconds.
Room service, which includes a bedside service for patients unable to use the call centres, is available at St John of God Health Care Murdoch, Mt Lawley, Subiaco, Geraldton, Berwick, Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong hospitals.
View the room service menu now available at St John of God Geraldton Hospital.