HCA chairman Andy Jones said that as a highly respected chef, Martin was ensuring hospital food and its vital role as part of a patient’s recovery plan was being kept ‘top of mind’ for the Government and NHS trusts.

“He has also helped to demonstrate to a wider public audience, the huge challenges that face hospital caterers in providing a food and beverage service to a diverse range of patients in different hospital environments and on limited budgets.

“The programmes will showcase his new ideas to help hospital catering teams to produce the tastiest and nutritious food possible, on even the tightest budgets.

“The new series is also focusing on the serious issues facing hospital caterers including the lack of investment in hospital kitchens and the limited food costs that many caterers are working with.

“With James stressing the significant contribution good food makes to patient wellbeing, nutritional care and recovery, the important underlying message to the Government and NHS trust boards is that nutritious, wholesome food is the simplest and best form of medicine.

“As such, it should be given far higher priority throughout the health care sector.

“Addressing any industry’s problems in the public domain of television may seem an ‘exposé’ way of dealing with them, but it can be clearly seen from the first programme just aired that the HCA has fully supported the BBC in the making of this production.

“We were impressed that they genuinely wanted to harness the expertise of the association and its members to show as realistic a picture as possible of the principle obstacles to achieving good patient food service faced by many hospital caterers across the country.

“Secondly, James is equally as passionate as us about wanting to see food fully accepted as part of a patient’s recovery programme.  That has definitely come across in the first programme.”