Over the weekend, a stalwart of hospital catering, Mike Duckett MBE, sadly passed away. Long-term colleague and friend, Julian Fris, Director of Neller Davies pays tribute to Mike.
I had the pleasure of knowing Mike for 30 years, having first met him when I employed him as the catering manager for St Charles Hospital. He was incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about catering and the sector he worked in.
Over the years, he worked for a number of contract caterers at St Mary’s & King’s College Hospitals in London but eventually he returned to the NHS as head of catering at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
There he came into his own – he was fanatical about properly cooked fresh local food and how it was so important for patient care. He developed a network of meat and vegetable suppliers all within 20 miles or so of the hospital which he and his team of chefs converted into award winning meals at the Brompton.
His catering service was the benchmark and was revered by many - the Soil Association, Hospital Caterers Association, Sustain, Institute of Hospitality and many others. The Brompton’s Catering was also highlighted in Lord Carter’s report on NHS efficiency published in 2015.
He caught the attention of the Prince of Wales who visited the hospital several times. Prince Charles had a deep interest in this subject and once referred to Mike as a ‘brilliant head of catering’. He was awarded an MBE and received the BBC Food Programme’s Food & Farming Award in 2012.
Mike said in an article published by the IoH that the hospitality fraternity have a collective responsibility to ensure that the food we serve is healthier. He argued that we should persuade those who manufacture meals to be more aware of the steps needed to reduce high levels of obesity - a familiar theme which resonates today around the industry whether healthcare, education or in the workplace.
Mike was a relentless campaigner for better food in hospitals, he strongly argued that food was medicine and it was less about cost but the lasting benefit of patient recovery and wellbeing, which is unquantifiable.
He regularly challenged food manufacturers and industry bodies and bemoaned the demise of the hospital kitchen. He has left a significant legacy to the industry and much of it underpins the Government’s current review of hospital food.
In his last email to me in March he gave his critique on British foods and said it would be a better standard now if we adopted the past successes. He consistently argued against change for change’s sake, which to his mind had devalued the merits of fresh cooked food and its benefits.
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