General Note
NHS Fife acknowledges and agrees with the importance of regular and timely review of policy statements and aims to review policies within the timescales set out. New policies will be subject to a review date of no more than 1 year from the date of first issue.
Reviewed policies will have a review date set that is relevant to the content (advised by the author) but will be no longer than 3 years.
If a policy is past its review date then the content will remain extant until such time as the policy review is complete and the new version published, or if national policy or legislative changes are made.
1. FUNCTION
The purpose of the policy is to inform staff and managers throughout NHS Fife of the hospitality available and to ensure the consistent provision of hospitality across NHS Fife hospital sites.
2. LOCATION
Hospitality is provided on all ten NHS Fife hospital sites for groups of four or more people; it is not possible to deliver to other sites due to precautions taken to ensure food safety.
3. RESPONSIBILITY
Catering Managers are responsible for ensuring that hospitalities are only provided if authorised by a relevant member of the Executive Director Group (EDG). If hospitality is requested through Fife Health Charity (formerly known as endowment) funds, the request must be signed off by the Designated Fund Manager (person responsible for the budget). This will ensure that hospitality requests are made with due consideration to the true cost of this provision.
4. OPERATIONAL SYSTEM
4.1 Provision
The provision of hospitality for meetings or other functions will be provided on the timely receipt of an appropriately authorised request form including a relevant finance code.
4.2 Non-NHS Fife Catering and Out of Hours Catering may be available but will be subject to additional charges.
4.3 Facilities may be provided to external organisations that hold meetings at the hospitals; an invoice will be issued by the Finance Department for such provision and will have VAT added to cost. The name of the person responsible, company, business address, contact number and purchase order number must be provided on the request form. All hospitality to external companies will attract VAT.
4.4 Once the request has been authorised by either the relevant EDG member or the Designated Fund Manager, the request for hospitality should be made to the Catering Department, giving as much notice as possible and at least three to four days in advance. Requests must be for a minimum of four people and submitted on the Hospitality Request Form.
4.5 For more information on cost please contact the relevant Catering Department. The costs of hospitality will be charged to individual departments/directorates, companies or persons responsible for placing the request.
4.6 48 hours’ notice is required for cancellation; otherwise, the directorate/department/external company will be charged the full amount.
4.7 Food Safety
For food safety reasons, the in-house catering services should be used at all times. Departments that wish to use the services of an external contractor must discuss their requirements with the Catering Lead via pauline.brown3@nhs.scot or fife.cateringstratheden@nhs.scot (marked for the attention of the Catering Lead), and ensure that full due diligence is carried out to prevent a risk to the individual and organisation.
4.8 It is the responsibility of the organiser to ascertain if any of the attendees have any specific cultural dietary requirement or food allergy/intolerance and detail this on the Hospitality Request, please also contact the relevant Catering Department to discuss. Given the correct notice and information, we will endeavour to provide catering to meet the needs of the request.
4.9 Food must be consumed within two hours of its arrival. We would ask that no provisions are removed from the meeting or event area to ensure safety for all.
Catering Departments for each locality can be contacted at this link:
5. RISK MANAGEMENT
There is a risk of inappropriate provision of hospitality and a breach of food safety. The process outlined in section 4 manages risk by seeking appropriate authorisation and outlining a robust ordering process for in-house catering services.
6. RELATED DOCUMENTS
Retirement Policy
Food Safety Policy GP/E8-1
