Running head: THE PRODUCTIVITY OF PATIENT 1

The Productivity of Patient Tray Line

Sara Foster

The University of Southern Mississippi

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Trayline productivity is an essential component in a Foodservice Department within

an Acute Care Facility and is monitored for quality assurance (Food and Nutrition). Three

meals are prepared each day to serve patients. Meals are prepared and delivered to all

hospital units to be handed out to patients. Meals for every diet type are assembled on the

patient tray line located in the foodservice kitchen. Tray tickets are used to verify the correct

food items during tray preparation. Food is portioned onto meal trays from individual stations

as the tray moves down the circular conveyor belt (See Appendix A for tray line layout).

Tickets begin at the Tray station, where a worker will initiate meal assembly by

placing a tray on the line, along with disposable cutlery and condiments. This person is

responsible for calling out special orders a ticket may have to let the other stations aware

before the tray reaches them. Special orders include items such as nutritional supplements,

broths, or soups.

Following the Tray Station is the Dessert Station. Desserts are available for all diet

types and are only provided at lunch and evening meals. The Beverage station is directly

beside and falls in line with the Dessert station. Beverages are available for all diet types,

including thickened beverages and nutrition supplements. After the tray passes the Dessert

and Beverage Stations, it enters into Hot Food Station #1 where the worker there will begin

plating the food. Hot Food Station #1 includes two entrees, including pureed, bite-size, and

rice size of each entrée. This station also provides the starchy side items. From Hot Food #1

the tray goes immediately into Hot Food Station #2 which includes two vegetables, pureed,

bite-size, and rice size options for each vegetable, bread items, soups, and broths. The server

at Hot Foods #2 adds to the plate that began at Hot Foods #1.

Once a tray makes it past Hot Foods #2 it passes the Leader Station where a Team

Leader checks the accuracy of each tray against the diet order and the foods listed on the tray
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ticket. When the Leader discovers an issue with a tray the conveyer belt is usually stopped,

halting tray line productivity long enough to correct the issue. When a requested food item is

unavailable, a substitution is made, and a stamp is placed on the ticket stating the requested

product is not available.

When a tray is accurately completed and checked by the leader, it is then loaded onto

the cart that transports the trays up to patient units. Trays are loaded at the Loader Station.

The loader numerically places the trays in the cart so that the tickets containing the patient

name and room number are visible.

Trayline productivity is a measure of the number of trays produced per minute.

Productivity is calculated with the total number of trays produced divided by the minutes

spent on the line. For example, at breakfast the tray line ran from 6:32 am to 7:26 am, with a

total of 67 minutes, producing 307 trays. When 307 (trays) is divided by 67 (minutes), it

equals to 4.58 trays per minute. The average number of trays is 4 per minute (Gregoire &

Theis, 2015).

Observation of tray line production reveals above average productivity when trays per

minute are measured. Each station repeatedly appears to operate accurately and efficiently.

Trayline staff works hard to ensure that quality control measures are maintained for each

meal service. One recommendation would be to consider expanding the Hot Food serving

area to cover three stations rather than two for lunch and dinner meals. Hot food items could

be held in the containers, between Hot Food #2 and the Leader Station (See Appendix B for

recommended tray line layout) that are empty during lunch and dinner service.

Hot Food Station #1 appears to be one of the hardest positions to maintain. The

worker at this station must ensure there are hot plates available to place the food on, keep the

hot food items stocked on the line, and continuously pulling from the heater located directly
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behind the station. This station is important as it contains texture modified foods that must be

accurately placed according to tray tickets. There are two entrée options, and each entrée also

have three texture modified options. In addition to the entrée, there is an alternate entrée such

hamburgers, the starchy vegetables and their texture modification options that are served

from Hot Foods #1.

If hot food items are divided into three sections rather than two, it could help improve

productivity further. Hot Food Station #1 could include both entrees, their modified options,

and the alternative entrée. Hot Food #2 could contain starchy vegetables and their texture

modification options along with soups, broths, and gravies. Hot Food #3 could have the

remaining vegetables with their texture modified options plus the bread options. There are

potential downfalls to this recommendation such as overcrowding on the tray line and the

expense of additional labor to work the extra station for lunch and dinner meal service.
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References

Food and Nutrition Services Department. Forrest General Hospital Departmental Policy

Manual. Retrieved from Quick-Links on Forrest Health Online.

Gregoire, M. B., & Theis, M. L. (2015). Practice paper of the academy of nutrition and

dietetics: principles of productivity in food and nutrition services: applications in the

21st century health care reform era. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and

Dietetics, 115(7), 1141–1147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2015.04.025

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Appendix A

Tray Line Diagram

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Appendix B

Tray Line Recommendation Diagram