Orchard Care Homes is celebrating after achieving an outstanding five star food hygiene rating across all 39 of its care homes.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) five star rating is awarded to businesses after considering three key criteria: how hygienically the food is handled; the physical condition of the business; and how the business manages ways of keeping food safe. Specific areas analysed include: cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, pest control, processes, training and systems to ensure good hygiene is maintained.
The five star food hygiene rating is the highest accolade achievable and reflects the attention to detail and standards across the entire portfolio of Orchard Care Homes’ residencies.
Heather Kerr, cook at Archers Park Care Home in Sunderland and winner of this year’s Orchard Care Homes Heart Award for Catering Hero, comments: “We make sure the food we serve to residents is always of the highest standard. Food and hygiene form an integral part of the high quality care we provide and we work alongside our residents to develop healthy menus to suit their needs.”
Dianne Lilley, food and beverage manager at Orchard Care Homes, who was responsible for overseeing the company’s efforts to achieve the rating, says: “A lot of hard work has gone into achieving a perfect score across all of our homes and we couldn’t be prouder.
"I would like to say a huge thank you to every cook, manager and anybody else that has helped us to achieve this. Now that we have five star ratings, we will be doing everything to ensure that we maintain this standard in every one of our homes.”
