Catering 2021.

Catharine Neilson visited the hospital kitchen on 24 May 2021. Her photographs provide a visual essay of the variety and complexity of the catering services in Maitland Hospital in 2021.

On her visits to the hospital she also photographed the Cafeteria: another source of food and nutrition, particularly for staff and visitors.

The photographs are drawn from those commissioned by NSW Health to document and portray the hospital during its last year of operation on the High St site.

To see photograph titles, hover over the images.

Supplies

Boxes of food supplies, tinned fruit, pre-packaged meals, containers of condiments, stacks of trays, drawers of cutlery: the kitchen requires a constant and well organised supply of food and serving utensils.

Managing

Management and administration of the hospital’s catering services is a task requiring skilful logistics, strategies and record-keeping. Files, notices, charts, personnel management, staff relations, stream-lined processes, clear staff roles are just parts of the job.

Melissa Ballard. Catering Supervisor, in her office.

Purple Binders

The purple binders were from Melissa’s predecessor, who loved the colour purple.

Preparing food

Different dietary needs, variety, three meals a day and morning and afternoon teas, packaging, labelling: food preparation in the hospital kitchen requires many gloved hands, different tasks, and good humour and staff relations. It is a teamwork enterprise.

A dietary requirement guide.

Food delivered to mental health wards must not be plastic wrapped.

Handwritten list for deliveries to patients.

Lists used to deliver food to patients.

Margaret Baker preparing food. The staff used to work together in an assembly to prepare the food service. By 2021 new systems meant that they work more individually.

Facilities and equipment

Hospital food preparation utilises different workspaces for different tasks, and specialised and improvised equipment.

Staff lunch room.

Cool room.

Pat Pipatrath in the washing up area.

Cafeteria

The Cafeteria caters for staff and visitors, and for those patients who can and wish to make their way to the cafeteria.

Cafeteria Staff

(L-R) Wendy Russell, Leanne Westbury and Annette Smith.

Details

As a photographer, Catharine Neilson has a particular interest in the ways in which details and small things provide commentaries and insights on a place and how people work in and interact with that place.

Staff room - impact of Covid.

Staff lunch room - sink.

Staff room - footy tipping.

Reminder.