Dietitian makes pureed food more appetising with moulded foods in Gold Coast hospital

SAY goodbye to pureed hospital mush – a Gold Coast dietitian has returned pureed food to its original meat and veggie form.

Zane Hopper won a grant up to $25,000 for his vitamising machine which allows pureed food for sick patients in hospitals to be moulded into actual lookalike food. Here with Cook Debbie Allison. Picture: John Gass

SAY goodbye to pureed hospital mush – a Gold Coast dietitian has returned pureed food to its original meat and veggie form.

Thanks to a $25,000 grant, Gold Coast University Hospital’s assistant director of nutrition and food services Zane Hopper will help dish out around 80 textured meals a day for patients on a pureed diet.

Zane Hopper is ensuring the pureed diet looks more appetising. Picture: John Gass

And some won’t even be able to tell the difference.

“Patients have actually buzzed nurses saying they need pureed food, that’s how good (moulded food has) worked,” he said.

Made according to strict clinical standards, Mr Hopper said he had always been unhappy about the presentation of pureed foods in hospital and worked alongside vendors to develop the moulding process.

Yep, the moulded food looks much better. Picture: John Gass

“I’ve never been happy with how the pureed diet for our patients look,” he said.

“It always comes back highly wasted, it looks like baby food.”

Using the moulded food to resemble beef or pork steak, or vegetables like broccoli, peas, carrots or corn, the innovative idea will mean less wasted food and patients discharged faster because they are eating more of their meals.

Zane Hopper with Debbie Allison. Picture: John Gass

In a trial run at Gold Coast University Hospital over the past few months, Mr Hopper said 90 per cent of patients were extremely happy with the product.

Mr Hopper said the grant, which came from GCUH the Improvers, would be put towards getting an industrial vitamised machine to cover both Gold Coast University and Robina Hospital.

More than 30,000 meals will be made for about 12,000 patients per year.

CASH INJECTION

Category One: up to $100,000

Carl de Wet (GP Liaison Unit): Received up to $100,000 to empower patients waiting for elective surgery to be proactive during their waiting time through the ‘Get Set for Surgery’ program

Category Two: up to $50,000

Penny Stabler (Clinical Council): Install digital information screens in key high-traffic areas at GCUH

Category Three: up to $25,000

Zane Hopper (Nutrition and Food Services): Purchase a vitamising machine to allow pureed food to be moulded into more appealing food that patients are happier to eat

Category Four: up to $10,000 (sponsored by the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation)

Serena Alves-Stein (Occupational Therapy): Purchase alternative nurse call bells for patients with limited, or no, arm and hand function, for example, a bell triggered by breath.

People’s Choice Winner

Matt Ernst and Ash Farr (Speech Pathology): Purchase a range of alternative communication devices, for example text to speech apps, to loan out to patients who are unable to communicate basic needs - $25,000

Other projects which received special Minister funding were:

Russell Plumbridge-Jones (Occupational Therapy/Palliative Care): Buy a queen-size cuddle bed for comfort for end-of-life patients - $10,000

Tamirin Darch, Helen Mason and Madeline Bridgland (Quality, Safety and Corporate Governance): Encapsulate the annual event Artbeat into a book that could be sold to support artistic programs for our mental health patients - $25,000

Chief Executive Ron Calvert decided to fund an additional project:

Rebecca Watson (Electroconvulsive Therapy): Produce a video to reduce the stigma of ECT Therapy - $50,000

Gold Coast Hospital Foundation agreed to fund an additional Category Four project:

Elizabeth Soleil-Moudiky-Joh (Rehabilitation): Change the colour of toilet seats to reduce falls risk and increase independence of the elderly - $10,000