At Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals we take food seriously. We believe our patients deserve good, nutritious food to make their stay pleasant and to aid their recovery.
What makes us different
All our meals are made daily on the premises using fresh ingredients, not ready meals. We have a fully equipped kitchen and highly skilled staff.
Nutrition and quality are our key considerations, not driving down costs. Our catering team puts sustainability first, meaning we use seasonal, organic and local produce whenever possible. After hard work in this area, 30 per cent of our food is now locally or organically sourced.
Read more about how your diet can help your recovery.
Places to eat at Royal Brompton Hospital
Sydney wing
Restaurant: level one (basement)
Open to patients, visitors and staff seven days a week.
Breakfast: 7am to 10.30am, Monday to Sunday
Hot lunch service: 12 noon to 3pm, Monday to Friday, and noon to 2.30pm on Saturday and Sunday
Afternoon: 2.45pm to 5.30pm (for drinks, sandwiches and snacks only)
Hot dinner service: 5.30pm to 7.15pm
Coffee shop: hospital reception - Sydney Street entrance
Open 7.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday
WHSmith
A WHSmith convenience store is located close to the coffee shop, selling newspapers, snacks and cold drinks.
Fulham wing
Snack bar: outpatients department, Dovehouse Street entrance
Open: 8am to 3pm, Monday to Friday
Vending Machines
There are a variety of cold and hot vending machines around the hospitals that are available 24-7 for patients, visitors and staff. The hot vending machines can be found in the restaurant on level one (basement) at Royal Brompton and in the Pavilion at Harefield.
Places to eat at Harefield Hospital
As well as the hospital restaurant The Hungry Hare, the hospital volunteers, Friends of Harefield, run a cafe in the Pavillion. Both facilities are in a separate block, facing the main entrance to the hospital.
Hungry Hare restaurant
Open: daily from 7:30am-7:30pm (snacks and cold and hot drinks available throughout)
- Breakfast: 7:30am-10:30am
- Lunch: 12pm-3pm
- Evening meal: 5:30pm-7:30pm
Friends of Harefield Hospital Pavillion
- Monday-Friday: 10am-5:30pm
- Saturday: 1pm-4pm (depending on staff availability)
- Sunday: 1:30pm-4pm
National coverage and royal recognition
We stand out amongst NHS hospitals with regard to our food and as a result, we have been featured in national papers and on television in programmes such as the BBC's Operation Hospital Food with James Martin.
In 2008, HRH The Prince of Wales, who is committed to driving hospitals to improve food visited Royal Brompton for an event on top quality hospital food.
The Observer highlighted our work in an article on NHS food in its monthly food magazine, and in January 2012, Rose Prince wrote an article in The Daily Telegraph titled "How we can make hospital food much better" where she says that our catering team has "engineered nothing short of a revolution" in hospital food.
In 2011, Clarence House, in conjunction with the Soil Association, hosted a reception celebrating the best of British hospital food and recognising the achievements of 14 NHS trusts, including Royal Brompton. HRH The Prince of Wales commented the hospital's catering is "the leading example of best practice in hospital food".
Marina O'Loughlin, Guardian Weekend's restaurant critic, visited Royal Brompton in 2015. Her piece in the paper described the “amazing job” carried out by the hospital’s catering and nutritional teams.
The independent Better Hospital Food project, set up by the government to drive up food standards in the NHS, awarded the Brompton its highest possible rating of ‘excellent’.
PEAT (Patient Environment Action Team) is an annual assessment of inpatient healthcare sites in England with more than 10 beds.
PEAT is self-assessed and inspects standards across a range of services including food, cleanliness, infection control and patient environment (including bathroom areas, décor, lighting, floors and patient areas).
NHS organisations are each given scores from 1 (unacceptable) to 5 (excellent) for standards of privacy and dignity, environment and food within their buildings.
Hospital menus for patients
Choosing from the menu
Our menus allow you to choose small medium and large food sizes. The options are also marked to help you make your choice, by highlighting soft, vegetarian, healthy and high-energy options.
A member of the catering department can provide a separate menu on request to satisfy the requirements of diverse cultures and religions. Lamb and chicken are sourced from suppliers that are approved by the Halal food authority.
Meal times
We will provide you with breakfast, lunch and an evening meal, hot and cold drinks and snacks twice a day.
- Breakfast from 8am to 9am
- Hot drinks and biscuits are served between 11:15am to 11:30am
- Lunch from noon to 1:15pm
- Hot drinks and cake from 2:30pm to 3pm
- Evening meal from 6pm to 7:15pm
Meal times are rotated between the wards. Meal times will vary but will be between the times listed.
If you miss a meal or have had a procedure during meal service times, the nursing staff can contact the catering department for an alternative meal to be sent. Please let them know when you return to the ward.
If you would like to join your relatives for a meal in one of the hospital restaurants, the catering department will be happy to oblige, providing you with a voucher equal to the price of your hospital meal. We would appreciate it if you could first check with your nurse first that you are well enough and you will then be given a voucher on the ward.