Hospital catering runs at a scale most food businesses never see. A central production kitchen may prepare thousands of patient meals a day, fresh or as cook-chill for regeneration on the wards; a staff restaurant serves from breakfast until the late shift ends; retail concessions in the atrium fry and grill for visitors; and a hospice or clinic runs a smaller kitchen with the same duty of care. The main production kitchen in an acute hospital is usually heavy use under TR19 Grease, cleaned every three months; a staff restaurant is typically moderate at six; a small clinic kitchen may be light at twelve. Concession units often share the hospital's ductwork while being run by a separate operator, which needs settling on paper before anyone is booked.
Working with estates and facilities
Nothing happens in a hospital plant space without the estates and facilities team. The contractors we arrange expect to work under a permit-to-work, submit risk assessments and method statements in advance, attend a site induction, check the asbestos register before cutting an access panel, and sign in and out of every area. Fire compartmentation matters more in a hospital than anywhere else, because wards depend on it, so fire stopping around any new panel is reinstated to the estates team's standard. The Firecode HTM 05 series and HTM 03-01 on healthcare ventilation frame how a trust manages fire and ventilation risk, and kitchen extract sits within that regime as a fire-loaded system that must be shown to be maintained.
Out-of-hours access
A hospital kitchen has no closed day, so the clean is timed for the quietest window, usually between the evening meal service and breakfast production, and phased canopy by canopy so that part of the line stays available. Fans and ducts in plant rooms and on roofs can often be cleaned by day without touching the kitchen. Infection control requirements apply throughout: cooking lines are sheeted, dust is contained, waste leaves the site with the contractor, and nothing crosses into clinical areas.
| Setting | TR19 band | Clean every | Access considerations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acute hospital production kitchen | Heavy | 3 months | Permit-to-work, night window, phased by canopy |
| Staff restaurant | Moderate | 6 months | Overnight or weekend |
| Retail concession on trust ductwork | Heavy or moderate | 3 to 6 months | Agree responsibility between operator and trust |
| Hospice, clinic or mental health unit kitchen | Light or moderate | 6 to 12 months | Quiet hours; residents or patients on site |
Regulators, insurers and evidence
Hospitals in England are inspected by CQC, in Scotland by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and in Wales by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, and each expects the estate to be safe and well managed; fire and rescue services audit hospitals as high-risk premises. NHS bodies in England generally cover property through NHS Resolution's Property Expenses Scheme rather than a commercial insurer, but the expectation of a maintained extract is the same, and private hospital groups and hospices carry commercial cover with the usual conditions that a loss adjuster will check after a fire. The TR19 certificate, with photographs, grease readings against the 200 µm trigger and an access-point schematic, is what the estates compliance file needs for every kitchen.
Multi-site trusts and health boards
A trust with three hospitals and a dozen community sites, or a regional health board, cannot manage extract cleaning kitchen by kitchen. We arrange contract schedules across the estate with a contractor for each area, fixed per-visit pricing, reminders ahead of each due date and one consolidated evidence file for the compliance lead. Where records are unreliable, a programme of TR19 inspections sets the baseline and prioritises the kitchens over the trigger.
What we arrange
The scope for every kitchen is the canopy, plenum and filters, the full duct run, the fan and the discharge, with grease-depth readings taken at the start and finish. Our partner contractors are BESA-qualified and CHAS-accredited, fully insured, and familiar with healthcare permit systems; they issue the certificate and photo report on completion of each visit. Costs depend on the number of canopies, the duct runs and the access regime; the cost guide gives ranges. Request a healthcare quote and we will arrange a contractor who can work with your estates team.
Related services: Kitchen Extract Cleaning · Canopy Cleaning · Ductwork Cleaning · Extractor Fan Cleaning
Frequently asked questions
Do the contractors have experience of NHS permit-to-work systems?
Yes. We match healthcare enquiries to contractors who already work in hospitals and expect to submit risk assessments and method statements, attend inductions and work under permits. If your trust has specific requirements, such as a particular contractor accreditation or an approved-supplier process, tell us at the enquiry stage so that we assign accordingly.
Can the kitchen keep producing meals during the clean?
Partly. The contractor phases the work canopy by canopy, so that one section of the cooking line is out of action while the rest keeps running, and the duct and fan work in plant rooms does not affect the kitchen at all. The full system is never taken out in one go in a production kitchen. Your catering manager and the contractor agree the sequence in advance.
Who is responsible for a coffee franchise's extract on our ductwork?
The concession agreement should say. The operator usually maintains its own canopy and filters, while the trust retains the shared duct and fan as part of the building, but it varies. The important thing is that the whole run is cleaned to the same interval and that both parties hold the certificate, because a fire in the shared duct affects both.
Can you cover several hospitals across a trust or health board?
Yes. We assign a contractor to each site or region, agree a fixed price per kitchen for the term, align the due dates so that the estates team can see the whole picture, and consolidate the certificates into one file. Sites in England, Scotland and Wales can be handled together even though the regulators differ.