The meal leaves the kitchen at the right temperature; the degrees are lost between the kitchen and the patient room. The distance may be under a hundred metres, yet the time is set by the trolley waiting for a lift, standing in a corridor and trays being handed out one by one. None of that loss shows up in kitchen records.
| Stage | Where the degrees go |
|---|---|
| Leaving the kitchen | Starting temperature and lid |
| Lift and corridor | Waiting time |
| Ward distribution | How many times the lid opens |
| Patient room | The tray waiting in front of the patient |
Salads, milk desserts and fruit carried in the same trolley as hot food are the first items to warm up. A separate pre-chilled compartment is the simplest way to hold both temperatures on one round.
The Turkish Health Accreditation Standards hospital set (v4.0/2025) requires the internal temperature of distribution trolleys to be monitored and recorded, and a witness sample of every dish to be kept for 72 hours. Taking the service reading in the last room of the round shows how the system really performs.
Salt-free, sugar-free, allergen-free and tube-feeding trays are tracked separately on the same round. The wrong tray reaching the wrong room is a more serious event than a temperature deviation.