Whipps Cross Hospital handed lowest possible food hygiene rating

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) awarded the hospital’s food kitchen a score of zero, meaning “urgent improvement” is necessary in all areas of food handling, cleanliness and safety management

Whipps Cross Hospital has been handed a food hygiene rating of zero after inspectors found serious failings across every category of assessment.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) awarded the hospital’s food kitchen the lowest score, meaning “urgent improvement” is necessary in all areas of food handling, cleanliness and safety management.

The failed inspection, carried out on Thursday 28th May, means the hospital trust will be served with legal notices detailing specific issues and a deadline for fixing them or face a hefty fine.

First, the kitchen was found to have poor hygienic food handling, with concerns raised about how food was prepared, cooked, reheated, cooled and stored. This category assesses whether staff follow safe practices to prevent contamination and ensure food is served at safe temperatures.

The second area flagged as needing urgent improvement was the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building. This includes the layout of the kitchen and service areas, the adequacy of ventilation, the availability of proper hand‑washing facilities and the presence of effective pest control measures.

Crucially, the café also failed on management of food safety, with inspectors left not knowing that there are checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, nor did they have confidence that staff knew about food safety, nor that standards will be maintained in the future.

A spokesman for Barts Health NHS Trust said: “The restaurant and café are operated by our catering partner Elior.

“We expect the very highest standards from all organisations providing services on our hospital sites and are working closely with Elior to ensure improvements are made.”

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