“I wanted something community based, something we could be proud of. I knew we had the ability, great people, fantastic ingredients. What we were missing was someone to pull it all together and curate a solution,” says David Bedwell, then interim executive director of estates, facilities and capital planning for NHS Highlands.
It’s September 2020 and we are standing in the new Highland’s Table at the main entrance of Raigmore Hospital. I’ve spent the previous six months working with his team to create a new menu, revamp the interior of what was a basic café and see if we can increase turnover to directly benefit the hospital.
Have we achieved it? We get an answer to that in the form of a question from Ann, one of the nursing staff, who wonders how something so ‘unhospital-like’ has landed in Raigmore. “It’s like going out on to the high street, a breath of fresh air,” she says.
David Bedwell was tasked with revamping the café and knew that, as Einstein pointed out, doing the same thing with the same people and expecting a different outcome was madness: “I knew we had brilliant colleagues and an amazing kitchen downstairs, it just wasn’t transferring into a notable experience for patients, staff and the public.
And, most importantly, I wanted all profits to go to patient care and not into the private sector.
“Trouble was the public then disappeared into lockdown,” says my business partner Hugh Gilmartin, but here we are 18 months on. Sales are climbing, we’ve put in a refresh and are now planning to open a second unit in the National Treatment Centre, a multi-million pound new build across the road, and a third into the entrance to Outpatients.”
Alan Wilson, now facilities director for NHS Highlands takes up the story. “Like many boards across the nation we are facing challenging times. The Highland’s Table leverages so much of what we do well, but in a different way. We want to be seasonal and local as much as possible. We want a cafe that feels part of us and frankly, we need the revenue in order to reinvest in patient care. It really is that simple.”
When we started it was all a bit strange. Hospital kitchens are amazing places, designed to deliver an often very specific health-focused offer to patients lying in beds a good distance away. There are complicated-looking heat-proof containers on wheels which are loaded up and head off to deliver breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I ask the team making salads if we could amend some of the recipes for the cafe. Emilia Plenderleith and Lynn Mcphee tell me they would be delighted to, and within minutes we are talking about less salt, more celery and even a little chilli to pep things up a bit.
It has not all been plain sailing however. Finding funding to do the makeover of the space has been difficult, for example. Which is not surprising really, given the main focus of the hospital must be patients and wards, operating theatres and even beds, which are all crying out for more to be spent.
Our business case was obviously challenged by Covid, but like any commercial decision the payback needs careful scrutiny. We were looking to strip out the space, though in reality the budget was just not there. So we set about engineering a solution; keeping the floor, working with the existing counter, but extending it and using lighting, solid oak table tops and new chairs to deliver a fresh and vibrant feel.
Coffee is key and Hugh installed some pretty sophisticated kit aimed at delivering fast and consist espresso-based drinks along with a ‘proper’ tea offer. For which read loose-leaf tea in a tea pot.
We discussed local suppliers, reached out to those in Inverness and beyond who had an overt ‘Scottishness’ and before long developed a list of three or four giving us meat, dairy and some baked goods. Although the latter proved to be a challenge, as there was already a good pasty offer from the kitchen team in the basement.
We had a directive around health to contend with in the shape of HealthyLiving. And by the end of 2021 there are issues - quite correctly - around using glass and plastic, though we manage to overcome these.
From the beginning all the staff embraced what we were trying to do and we managed to create a different, on-brand culture with new uniforms, training and a focus on consistency together with a new menu.
So where were the problems? At the start some people didn’t really understand that we were doing anything different; ‘sure, isn’t it just a café,’ was the typical riposte.
But soon this changed, helped of course by the figures, which as we eased back into normal life proved to be consistently above sales achieved previously.
As the business grows, so too does the contribution to Raigmore. And while staff are eager participants, they also benefit from a discount.
Two years on I ask Alan Wilson what he thinks our biggest achievement has been.
“Undoubtedly the financial gain is uppermost in my mind, but I’m also really thrilled this has been achieved with local people - staff, patients and visitors.
“Why, after all, is it not possible to be in a hospital like this and enjoy a good cup of coffee and a decent sandwich.” Well now it is...