31 July 2007 : Hospitals inclined to use of Integrated Management Systems

By saying Integrated Management Systems, IMS, people would tend to think of an integration of just three well know standards, viz ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. However, for Hospital catering services in Hong Kong, experience has shown that some have extended the coverage of IMS up to 4 Standards. Since catering concerns very much about food safety, the food safety management standard is included in the IMS and the following becomes a norm for some Hospital catering operations : ISO 9001 Quality Management ISO 14001 Environmental Management OHSAS 18001 Health and Safety Management HACCP or ISO 22000 Food Safety Management To set up a system with respect to just one system is already a great task, to build a 4-Standards-IMS requires much more effort. Nevertheless, around a year ago, the New Territory East Cluster (NTEC) Hospitals see a need to build up a 4-Standards-IMS. With the Consultants and NTEC staff working together in a team for several months, the hard work does reap results. IMS Certification of NTEC Hospitals is awarded by BVQi in July 07 and has the scope statement covering patient catering and non-patient catering. N. Law and Associates was also the Consultant behind this certification exercise. N. Law and Associates has long been the most experienced consultant for food-safety-related IMS Consultancy for Hospital catering services. Up to now, she has the following job references : a) Kowloon Central Cluster – Patient Catering Operations (at Kowloon Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital) b) Kowloon West Cluster – Patient Catering Operations (at Kwong Wah Hospital and Wong Tai Sin Hospital) c) New Territories East Cluster – Patient Catering Operations (at North District Hospital, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, Tai Po Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin Hospital, Bradbury Hospice and Cheshire Home) d) New Territories West Cluster – Patient Catering Operations (at Castle Peak Hospital, Tuen Mun Hospital, Siu Lam Hospital and Po Oi Hospital) e) New Territories East Cluster – Non-Patient Catering (Canteen) Operations, (at North District Hospital) f) Milk Kitchens in Kwong Wah Hospital, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital.