Fortis Healthcare is a fast growing chain of hospitals in India. By adopting a “Total Patient Centric Approach”, the teams of doctors & medical staff and management professionals meet international protocols.
Apart from serving food to the patients, Forbes Concept also successfully handles the smooth operations of the Jam Ja Jee cafeteria for the staff which starts with breakfast at 7am and ends with dinner at 10pm. The operation capacity of Forbes Concept doesn’t end here; Café 24, 24-hour restaurant of the hospital, serves food to visitors which include all the services along with a la carte menu. Another eatery, Hot Shop, situated in the campus of the hospital, to provide immediate snacks to the visitors is also successfully managed by Forbes Concept.
In order to ensure smooth functioning, the entire operation is handled by a highly qualified, motivated and experienced team which consists of operations manager, assistant manager, supervisors, experienced chefs, well-trained cooks, well-mannered service staff and the utility staff. The team is interactive and has a structured client feedback and complaint management system to deliver its best.
The entire quality procedure is strictly scrutinised by a Quality Assurance manager who conducts regular audits and gives training to the staff along with the F&B head and his team at the hospital. Around 97 professionals of Forbes Concept are engaged in the catering services at Fortis Mohali. In the kitchen area alone, 18 staff members work in shifts.
Protocols and standard service
“We follow the standards to the smallest details. Refrigerators are checked for the temperature levels every hour. Each food item is checked on the prescribed temperature. For example, the ice cream cabinet has to be under -28oC. Every area of the kitchen has to meet the protocol.” There is a sequence of operations on managing the kitchen. Procedures begin right from the time the vegetables are received. All vegetables are thoroughly washed, disinfected in Suma tablets and kept in the sterile area which is a separate corridor before being stocked into the walk-in cooler. Every item received is tagged date-wise.
Similarly, groceries received are first removed from the cartons at the entrance before being brought in, as there are always chances of spread of contamination through the cartons. Fortis stocks only branded items. Storage too is subjected to simple protocols like nothing should be stocked above three feet from the ground; everything has to be kept clean and all food areas have to be washed and cleaned regularly.
Hygiene is given prime importance. Kitchen staff handling raw vegetables has to wear gloves and cutting tools have to be disinfected. Regular checks by the supervisor and auditing staff ensure all rules are adhered to. “As a routine, there are teams of doctors who do cross-auditing of departments.”
The use of dishwasher to clean the used containers using Diversey chemicals does away with the need to wipe them, as they come out dry. Besides, the kitchen is fumigated fortnightly and the floors are swabbed with R2 everyday.
The staff has to undergo medical check-ups. “We have staff hygiene cards monitored by the Supervisor and anyone not meeting the standards is asked to go. These include rules like well-cut nails, groomed hair, etc. To ensure that there is no non-adherence, there is a briefing before every shift. Forbes Facility staff has been trained to meet the standards and they have responded well. We have also given them three other sites to handle besides Mohali.”