Health and safety in health and social care Iechyd a diogelwch mewn iechyd a gofal cymdeithasol
The importance of implementing food safety measures Pwysigrwydd rhoi mesurau diogelwch bwyd ar waith

Food safety measures are put in place to prevent people getting ill from contamination of food. People receiving care are usually vulnerable individuals who can become very ill if they contract food poisoning.

All organisations must comply with legislation to prevent this from occurring and organisations are inspected to ensure they are complying with the law. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works closely with Local Authority (LA) Food Safety Officers to ensure businesses comply with food law throughout the food chain.

They have a responsibility to protect the public and are accountable for awarding Food Hygiene Ratings following an inspection. The rating is based on a score from 0 (urgent improvement required) to 5 (excellent hygiene standards). The food hygiene rating therefore is not a guide to food quality, it’s simply based on food hygiene.

When Environmental Health Officers inspect food premises they need to consider:

• Hygiene – the preparation of food, cooking and storing
• Structure – how clean and tidy the kitchen is and factors such as layout, ventilation and lighting
• Management - how food safety is recorded, staff training and how well they follow the rules.

FSA data shows that over 98% of hospitals and other care providers have achieved a UK food hygiene rating of three or better.

Though this figure is very high it still means that over 500 hospitals and other places that provide care in the UK have failed hygiene and food safety inspections.

The data also shows that more care homes failed the inspection than any other type of establishment. Many nurseries, child care centres and playgroups also failed to meet the required standards.

The main reasons for the failure of many care homes was because of rotten and expired food in fridges. It was noted that in many care homes food storage was poor with raw and cooked food being kept together risking cross-contamination. The cooking equipment was not satisfactory, and a lack of hand-washing facilities and proper documentation were the other main weaknesses.

Rhoddir mesurau diogelwch bwyd ar waith i atal pobl rhag mynd yn sâl o halogiad bwyd. Mae pobl sy'n derbyn gofal fel arfer yn unigolion bregus sy'n gallu mynd yn sâl iawn os ydynt yn cael gwenwyn bwyd.

Mae'n rhaid i bob sefydliad gydymffurfio â deddfwriaeth i atal hyn rhag digwydd ac arolygir sefydliadau er mwyn sicrhau eu bod yn cydymffurfio â'r gyfraith. Mae'r Asiantaeth Safonau Bwyd (FSA) yn gweithio'n agos gyda Swyddogion Diogelwch Bwyd Awdurdodau Lleol (ALl) i sicrhau bod busnesau'n cydymffurfio â chyfraith bwyd ledled y gadwyn fwyd.

Mae ganddynt gyfrifoldeb i amddiffyn y cyhoedd ac maen nhw’n atebol am ddyfarnu Sgoriau Hylendid Bwyd yn dilyn arolygiad. Mae'r sgôr yn seiliedig ar sgôr o 0 (angen gwelliant ar frys) i 5 (safonau hylendid rhagorol). Felly nid yw'r sgôr hylendid bwyd yn ganllaw i ansawdd bwyd, ond mae'n seiliedig ar hylendid bwyd yn unig.

Pan fydd Swyddogion Iechyd yr Amgylchedd yn arolygu safleoedd bwyd, mae angen iddynt ystyried:

• Hylendid – paratoi, coginio a storio bwyd
• Strwythur – pa mor lân a thaclus yw'r gegin a ffactorau megis cynllun, awyru a goleuo
• Rheoli - sut y caiff diogelwch bwyd ei gofnodi, hyfforddiant staff a pha mor dda maen nhw’n dilyn y rheolau.

Mae data yr FSA yn dangos fod dros 98% o ysbytai a darparwyr gofal eraill wedi cyflawni sgôr hylendid bwyd y DU o dri neu well.

Er bod y ffigur hwn yn uchel iawn, mae'n dal i olygu bod dros 500 o ysbytai a mannau eraill sy'n darparu gofal yn y DU wedi methu archwiliadau hylendid a diogelwch bwyd.

Mae'r data hefyd yn dangos bod mwy o gartrefi gofal wedi methu'r arolygiad nag unrhyw fath arall o sefydliad. Fe wnaeth llawer o feithrinfeydd, canolfannau gofal plant a chylchoedd chwarae hefyd fethu â chyrraedd y safonau gofynnol.

Y prif resymau dros fethiant llawer o gartrefi gofal oedd bod bwyd wedi pydru a'i fod wedi mynd y tu hwnt i’r dyddiad dod i ben mewn oergelloedd. Nodwyd bod y cyfleusterau storio bwyd yn wael mewn llawer o gartrefi gofal a bod bwyd amrwd a bwyd wedi'i goginio yn cael ei gadw gyda'i gilydd gan achosi perygl o draws-halogi. Nid oedd yr offer coginio yn foddhaol, a'r prif wendidau eraill oedd diffyg cyfleusterau golchi dwylo a dogfennaeth briodol.