Hospital food: The words conjure images of cold cabbage, watery soup and dried sandwiches.

But until I visited the John Radcliffe, I had never actually tried the stuff myself.

The Headington hospital provides around 900 inpatients with three balanced meals a day, a feat in itself.

A day after carefully selecting my meal choices from the large, and slightly confusing menu, I was sitting in front of my first choice – a cup of creamed asparagus soup served with a warm bread roll.

The soup, which I am not convinced had ever been anywhere near an asparagus, was clearly made from a packet mix, but was hot and looked a convincing shade of green.

I am not a food critic, but I didn’t find it that bad. However I’m surethat should patients compare this concoction to their home cooked favourite, they may well face disappointment.

I also wonder how nutritious a freeze dried soup can be for convalescing patients whose bodies are probably craving vitamins and minerals as they recuperate.

But staff assure me each meal is carefully nutritionally balanced, and does not contain any added salt.

My main course was lasagne, which I asked to be served with cabbage.

Cabbage gets a bad reputation in and out of hospital, but I wanted to see for myself. And yes, it was disgusting.

It was an anaemic, watery green with some crunchy parts but had mostly been boiled to death so it fell apart on the way up to my mouth.

It had undergone a long journey to get to my plate though, having been prepared 100-plus miles away in Wales.

The lasagne was surprisingly tasty. A thick tomato sauce contained discernible chunks of tomato, a generous amount of minced beef and a white sauce, crispy on top.

Pudding, a rib sticking apricot pie with custard, was the best part of the whole meal; not too sweet, but sticky and comforting. In all, the food was not bad – not Michelin star, but it was tasty.

And should I ever find myself as a patient at the JR, I will take a moment to remind myself of the pressures the NHS and its many staff are under, and be grateful for the fact that we have a health service which is the envy of the world.

Even if the food is not.

  • Long-haul lunches

Staff at Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust used to prepare food on site for patients in the hospital kitchens.

But for some time the hospital has used the ‘cook-chill’ system, provided by private contractor Carillion.

Meals are brought in from a factory in Wales, where they are cooked and packaged like a ready meal.

Then they are put into a ‘regeneration’ oven shortly before being served to patients.

Carillion is one of the UK’s biggest support services and construction companies, employing about 50,000 people.

It has annual revenue of around £5bn and operations across Britain and in Europe, Canada, the Middle East, North Africa and Caribbean.

The company works in a range of sectors, including health and education.

  • The patients' verdict

"The food is not as bad as everyone says. I’ve had some lovely meals here. Macaroni cheese was my favourite. The health service gets too much bad press.”

Christa Miller, 77, from Didcot, who had minced lamb and mashed potato.

"I honestly think this is one of the best lamb masalas I have had. I want the recipe. Occasionally the food is slightly cold but this time they got it just right, and the rice is perfect.”

Martin Parker, 56, from Abingdon, had the lamb masala curry with rice.