Patients at Moseley Hall Hospital in Birmingham have been served a festive season fillip with the reopening of the historic site’s kitchen following a £1.1 million refit.

The new facility will be used to prepare more than 50,000 hot meals this year for inpatients across the community hospital site, which has 115 beds across five wards specialising in sub-acute care and rehabilitation of older adults.

It will also provide hot and cold snacks and meals for the newly-named Violet’s Restaurant, which was named in memory of former catering colleague Violet Barnett, who died in 2008.

The last major refurbishment of the site’s catering facilities was in 1967 and the building that houses the kitchen and restaurant dates back over 300 years.

Elaine Burgoyne, patient environment support manager for South Birmingham Community Health, which manages the hospital, said: “Our aim is to provide facilities and services that contribute towards giving patients a positive experience while they are in the hospital.

“We are confident that continuing to prepare fresh, nutritious ‘home-cooked’-style meals onsite is the best way to achieve that.”

The hospital’s six chefs were all closely involved in the design and planning of the facility, which incorporates equipment designed to make the kitchen as eco-friendly as possible.