Catering training fares well (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Catering training fares well

CATERING services at Salisbury Health Care NHS Trust are better than ever, thanks to training funded by Free2Learn, says its manager.

Catering Services manager Paul Baldry said more than a third of the department's 70 staff are benefiting from the training, which is run by the Learning & Skills Council Wiltshire and Swindon.

"The quality of the service we provide has improved because the training makes people sharp and keen to show they can do better," said Mr Baldry.

He added that the training had helped his department increase the Trust's catering revenue in each of the last two years and win a record haul of medals in a competition run by the Hospital Caterers' Association.

The Free2Learn Employer Training Pilot pays the training costs and compensates the Trust for the wages the employees earn while they are in training.

Lynda Weeks, the Trust's catering services training co-ordinator, has ensured that every member of the catering team who is eligible for Free2Learn-funded training is offered the opportunity to join the training programme.

Since its launch in September 2002, the Free2Learn Employer Training Pilot run by Wiltshire and Swindon Learning & Skills Council has funded 750 organisations, enabling 6,500 employees to improve their work skills and gain work-related qualifications at NVQ level 2.

"Salisbury Health Care NHS Trust is just one of the many organisations where training funded by Free2Learn has helped to reduce staff turnover, increase productivity and improve customer care," said Marion Sweet, Free2Learn area manager, Wiltshire and Swindon.

Employers interested in Free2Learn funding should call 0845 751 2288 or log on to www.free2learn.org

The Trust's Catering Services department produces more than 11,000 meals per week for inpatients and also prepares and serves 20,000 snacks and meals per week in the Trust's three restaurants and hospitality suite.

Free2Learn is funding training for three chefs and 12 catering assistants so that they can gain a nationally recognised qualification.

The chefs will gain an NVQ level two in catering, and the catering assistants have achieved, or are working towards, an NVQ level two in quick service.

Free2Learn is also funding Skills for Life literacy classes for ten other catering staff and others will take a Free2Learn-funded course in English for speakers of other languages.