THE service to provide food for thousands of hospital patients from York and Selby is to be tendered out, The Press has learned.

York Hospital said it was to begin a bidding process for companies interested in running catering services at the Wigginton Road site.

A spokesman for the hospital said current catering staff had been informed of the changes and that there should be no job losses as result of any takeover.

Brian Golding, director of estates and facilities, said: “Our catering service was designed over ten years ago. We’re now at a stage where we need to reinvest in equipment, and rather than replace like for like we want to take the opportunity to modernise the service.

“To make sure our catering service is as efficient as possible, we are comparing what the market can offer with what our in-house team can provide.

“The quality of the food on offer will be central to the assessment process, cost is not the only deciding factor.”

The hospital said the exercise would not affect Scarborough Hospital, which is due to come under the control of York Teaching Hospital Trust, and which is currently the subject of a series featuring television chef James Martin who wants to improve hospital food in the UK.

York Hospital also said it was unsure what staffing levels would need to be to run the new service, but this would be the case whether the contract was awarded to an outside provider or their own team.

If the contract goes to an outside provider, the company would have to offer the posts they need to run the service to existing hospital staff.