A HOSPITAL cafe which caters for more than 300 patients and staff every day has praised the food hygiene rating system after being awarded five stars.

The League of Friends cafe in the John Radcliffe’s West Wing is run by more than 50 volunteers who have all been trained in keeping food standards high.

Last month the team found out they had maintained their five-star rating from Oxford City Council and manager Lisa Worden said training had done the trick.

She said: “Because we are in a hospital, it is obviously so important we get it right.

“A lot of people who come in are sick and it’s vital there is no chance of them getting worse.

“I have been manager for just over a year now and our previous manager had a five-star rating – so it was great to maintain that.

“I did a Food Hygiene training course and it was brilliant, I learned so much and I am able to instruct all the volunteers with what they should be doing.

“We do regular checks of everything in the morning and the afternoon.”

The inspection, which took place on January 21, rewarded the team’s diligence and precautions. The results came back a few days later and revealed the volunteers, along with their manager, scored “Very Good” when it came to Food Hygiene and Safety and “Good” in both Confidence in Management and Structural Compliance.

The cafe mainly serves cold food such as sandwiches and rolls, but also warms up snacks such as sausage rolls.

Ms Worden, 49, who has worked at the cafe for eight years, said this made it easier to keep standards high. But she added that the random nature of inspections kept everyone their toes.

She said: “We don’t have to worry about things like cross-contamination because we don’t do hot food.

“But the inspection system definitely works. Because they come on the spur of the moment we have to be constantly on the ball. Things can occasionally go wrong like a fridge door being left open, so you have to always be aware.

“That happened once overnight and we had to throw out all of the food in the fridge.”

Much of the cafe’s produce comes from Nash’s Bakery, which has five shops across the county, all of which are rated either four or five stars.

The League of Friends Shop in the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre also has a rating of five, while the League of Friends Tea Bar in the Women’s Centre at the John Radcliffe and the other League of Friends cafe on Level 2 of the hospital both have ratings of four, according to the Scores on the Doors website.