Hospital meals

Tender description

This Framework Agreement will be for the delivery direct to: 1) Any NHS trust; 2) Any other NHS entity; 3) Any government department, agency or other statutory body; and/or 4) Any private sector entity active in the UK healthcare sector of chilled and/or frozen meals in 2 categories; standard meals, specialist meals and steam plated meals including ethnic meals, dysphagic meals and specific dietary meals. Precise sales quantities are unknown. It is anticipated that initial expenditure will be in the region of 14 700 000 GBP in the first year of this Framework Agreement, however this is approximate only and the values may vary depending on the requirements of those bodies purchasing under the Framework Agreement. Lot 1 offers trusts a selection of standard ready prepared chilled and/or frozen delivered ready meals with the availability of specialist meals and associated products to allow a single point of supply for a total customer solution. Suppliers must offer the complete menu requirements in terms of delivered ready prepared meals covering: — soups, — main entrees, — main vegetarian entrees, — potatoes and stable starches, — vegetables, — accompaniments and sauces where applicable, — desserts, — modified texture diets, — religious cultural and vegan diets, — therapeutic diets e.g. low sodium/reduced potassium renal diet meals and allergen meals, — breakfast items. All of the above products must be available from the supplier (either manufactured and/or distributed) and the range must be comprehensive enough to allow a customer to create a complete hospital menu, in terms of delivered ready prepared meals, from the suppliers' offering. Suppliers must be able to support and train customers during the mobilisations and implementation of the contract. Lot 2 consists of but not limited to: — religious/cultural meals, e.g. Halal, Kosher, Afro Caribbean, Eastern European, — texture modified meals, e.g. (textures B/C/D and E), — therapeutic diet meals, e.g. low sodium/reduced potassium renal diet meals, dysphagic meals and allergen meals. This lot is also for suppliers who manufacture and/or supply chilled and/or frozen ready prepared plated meals which are designed for various regeneration systems e.g. microwaves or ovens. The system has primarily been designed to allow patients in hospital to order their food closer to the meal time (typically within 24 to 48 hours) and reduce wastage. The range can include: — individual plated meals for an a la carte meal service, — bulk components of the plated meals for use in retail outlets.