For hospitals and care facilities

Smart fridge
for a care facility

A care facility runs twenty-four hours a day; the cafeteria does not. Anyone on nights, anyone starting at quarter to seven, anyone on a ward where the break is twenty minutes and the lift is slow eats what they brought or does not eat. The same corridors hold a second group with nothing on offer: family members who stay, and people waiting through the night.

Staff and visitors Outside clinical areas Halal, kosher and vegan

Check your site Food for the night shift

The situation

The building keeps going,
the food does not

The break in care cannot be planned. It shifts with the ward, gets interrupted and is short. Two lifts, a closed cafeteria, a machine with only dry products: every detour ends in practice with people working on and only eating at home.

For the night shift that goes double: nothing outside the building is open either. Other on-call services, such as fire and police, know the same. A chilled cabinet close to the ward has no opening hours and needs no staff, so there is food at the hours when there is nothing now.

Night shifts Shifting breaks Visitors and waiting areas

What goes wrong now

The cafeteria closes in the evening and at weekends
The walk to the cafeteria costs half the break
Vending machines offer only dry products
Nothing is open outside the building at night
No halal, kosher, vegetarian or vegan options
Visitors and people waiting find nothing at all

Where it goes

Three spots,
three audiences

By the ward

In or next to the staff room, reachable during the break without lifts. For those who cannot leave the ward for long.

By the changing rooms

On the route to and from the shift. For those starting early or leaving late and taking something on the way.

In the hall or waiting area

For visitors and people waiting, at the hours when the cafeteria is closed. Often a bigger share of use than expected.

Never in a clinical area

The spot is set by your infection prevention and control team, and their framework applies. What else is monitored is covered in food safety in the vending machine.

This is not patient food. Food linked to diets, allergies or medical care belongs with your own kitchen and dietitians. The cabinet is for staff and visitors only.

When it pays off

Signals at
a care facility

You run around-the-clock shifts
A hundred or more staff a day
The cafeteria closes in the evening or at weekends
Wards are far from the cafeteria
Breaks are short and move around
Visitors stay in the building overnight
A diverse team: halal, kosher, vegetarian and vegan
The current machine offers only dry snacks

Frequently asked questions

About a cabinet
in a care facility

Is this also for patient food?

No, and that is a deliberate limit. Food for patients or residents is linked to diets, allergies and medical care, and belongs with your own kitchen and dietitians. The cabinet is for staff and visitors: fresh meals and drinks at the hours when your cafeteria is closed.

Our nurses cannot leave the ward for long. Does it help?

That is usually the deciding reason. A ground-floor cafeteria is practically out of reach for someone with a twenty-minute break on the fourth floor. With the cabinet in or near the ward’s own staff room, people do eat during their shift.

Where can a cabinet like this go, from a hygiene point of view?

Outside clinical areas: in the staff room, the corridor to the changing rooms, the hall or the waiting area. Products are individually wrapped and stay sealed until the user opens them. Your infection prevention and control team decides the exact spot, within their framework.

Is it also for visitors and people waiting?

Yes, and at some sites that is half the use. Family staying during an admission, people waiting at A&E overnight: they often find nothing. A cabinet in the hall or waiting area solves that without staff having to stay. Whether it goes in the same spot as the one for your own people is worth looking at together.

Our staff are very diverse. Does the range allow for that?

Yes. Halal, kosher, vegetarian and vegan options are part of the standard range and labelled recognisably on the pack. With a diverse care team you need those options, or part of your staff ends up empty-handed in front of the cabinet.

What does your night shift find at three in the morning?

Eight short questions about your facility: staff numbers, shifts and what is open now. We call you back with a proposal per spot: ward, changing rooms or waiting area.

Free site check See the options

Takes about 90 seconds · no obligation · no contact details until the last step

Smart fridgefor a care facility

The building keeps going,the food does not

Three spots,three audiences