CATERING staff based at Inverclyde Royal are cooking up a storm after being crowned best in Britain.

The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde team who prepare meals for patients right across the health board area won the top honour at the Hospital Caterers Association awards at Celtic Manor in Wales.

They picked up the 'catering service of the year' prize for their role in delivering some 3.6 million dishes annually across 12 sites, including IRH.

Staff stood out for their efforts in devising a variety of nutritious meals in partnership with dieticians and patients to meet the needs of a large number of people who often have a range of differing requirements.

Kate Murray, head of catering and based in Greenock, said: "To win this award is a wonderful testament to all the hard work the catering service has carried out to ensure patients at the Inverclyde Royal Hospital have a wide choice of nutritious and appealing meals.

"As a service, we're determined to give our patients meal choices that suit their needs.

"We continually speak with patients to ensure we receive ongoing feedback on what we're doing right and take on board any potential new ideas we can introduce to the service.

"We're very proud to win this award as it recognises our commitment to developing and creating meals that are nutritious and play a part in helping patients recover more quickly and also gave patients a range of options to suit their tastes and requirements."

Meals, with the exception of a small number of specialist dishes, are nutritionally analysed and freshly prepared in cook freeze production units at IRH and at Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital.

The service was also recognised for introducing more choice as well as cutting down on levels of food waste.

Staff now have more accurate preparation plans based on actual, rather than projected, meal uptakes.

The health board is also the only one in Scotland to employ a full-time dietitian as part of the catering team.