Assessment of Knowledge and Practices of Food Hygiene and Safety of Caterers in Senior High Schools in Ghana: A Case Study of Two Senior High Schools in Koforidua.

Abstract

With health care industry competition on the rise, many hospital foodservice operations are looking for ways to improve patient satisfaction. It is against this background that this study evaluated the foodservice quality (that is the tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance of foodservice) being delivered in the public hospitals with a critical look at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. A multi-stage sampling involving stratified and simple random sampling were used to select 200 patients. According to the results of the study, food quality (4.09) was ranked as the highest followed by food safety (4.085), meal service quality (4.06) and physical environment (3.992) respectively. Confidence in hospital food is built only when proper foodservice is provided (100%). Different geographical locations (80%), different groups of people (78%) and different foodservice managements (75%) are the major factors influencing food preferences among the respondents. However, a holistic approach is needed to provide successful foodservice, considering economic, social and ecology factors in the hospital environment.