September 7, 2022 7.00 am This story is over 23 months old

Restaurants at Lincolnshire hospitals reopening to public

Visitors will be able to use the restaurants once again
The restaurant team at Lincoln County Hospital. | Photo: ULHT

Visitors to Lincolnshire’s hospitals will be able to use the restaurants in Lincoln, Boston and Grantham from Wednesday as restrictions put in place during the coronavirus pandemic have eased in the community.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurants in United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s sites were closed to the public.

The restaurants will now reopen from Wednesday, September 7 anyone will be able to buy hot and cold food at Lincoln, Boston and Grantham hospitals.

During the public closure the trust’s restaurant and catering teams kept busy by continuing to serve hospital staff and those patients staying on one of the wards.

The restaurants will be open to the public between Monday and Friday at the following times:

  • Lincoln County Hospital – from 8am until 2.30pm, hot food finishes at 2pm
  • Pilgrim Hospital, Boston – from 7.45am until 3pm, hot food finishes at 1.45pm
  • Grantham and District Hospital – from 8.30am until 2.30pm, hot food finishes at 1.45pm.

In an average day the hospital kitchens make 250 sandwiches that are sold in the restaurants. Almost 200 jacket potatoes are cooked, and 100kg of chips served, every day in the restaurants. 500 hot meals are prepared in the restaurants, along with hot and cold puddings, and hundreds of salad made for sale.

This is all in addition to the thousands of meals the kitchens prepare each day for patients staying on the wards.

Trust Catering Manager John Spencer, said: “Throughout the pandemic our restaurants have remained open for our amazing teams who have been working in our hospitals.

“With restrictions continuing to ease in our communities, we feel that the time is now right to reopen our doors to members of the public. When visiting our hospitals they will be able to come in and purchase everything from a cup of tea, to a hot meal or a piece of cake.

“We have missed them and I know our teams are really looking forward to welcoming the public back into our restaurants.”

He added: “The team really do work non-stop, both in our hospital kitchens and in our restaurants. They are a great bunch of people who not only go out of their way to keep our colleagues and visitors fed and watered, but they always makes sure that they are served with a smile.”