HEALTH chiefs say the standard of food served at the new Savernake Hospital will not fall despite homecooked meals being replaced with frozen food.

Patients' food will be cooked and chilled by an NHS service in Wales and then reheated at the hospital.

This change was discovered by Val Compton from Kennet Place who has recently spent time in the Great Western Hospital.

Mrs Compton, who works at Savernake as a physiotherapy assistant, said she received excellent medical care in the GWH. "However I requested to be discharged early because of the truly awful food. "I gather all food, except for the caf in the reception area, is cooked off premises. My complaint is currently being dealt with by the GWH," Mrs Compton said in a letter to Marlborough Town Council.

She wrote: "I am bemused at the information that it will be cooked in Wales, frozen, driven up the M4 and regenerated on the wards."

The new hospital project manager Ian McLellan said Wiltshire Shared Services Consortium, which provides support services to a number of primary care trusts, has arranged for Savernake meals to be provided by Tillery Valley Foods in Abertillery.

Mr McLellan said Tillery Valley Foods provided meals of guaranteed quality and portion size. He said: "With this system we will be spending less on kitchen wages and more on the food."