CELEBRITY chef James Martin wants to see North Yorkshire food producers supplying the region’s health trust as he looks to revolutionise hospital food.

The Saturday Kitchen presenter is working with chefs at Scarborough Hospital for a BBC Daytime show due to be screened this autumn.

He said he wants to show how it is possible to produce “healthy, appetising meals using fresh local ingredients while sticking to a tight budget and improving patient and staff satisfaction levels”.

Now the chef is inviting food businesses from across the area to attend an event he is hosting in Scarborough later this month, where he will explain how to bid for a contract with Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

Dennis Smith, the trust’s procurement manager, said: “As part of this exciting project we are commencing a procurement exercise inviting local food producers who may be able to meet our cost, quality and delivery standards to bid for supply contracts with the trust.

“Many small suppliers and farmers may be intimidated by the processes involved in bidding for this work, which is why we are holding an informal event to explain more about this exciting catering initiative, our tender process and how to go about applying.”

He also said although the trust could not solely award contracts on the basis of locality, it was committed to encouraging local businesses to compete for the contract opportunities.

Catering manager Pat Bell said: “We already work with a lot of Yorkshire-based suppliers, however this procurement exercise will enable smaller suppliers to find out more about how they can work with their local hospital.”

The informal session will take place at Yorkshire Coast College in Scarborough on Monday, June 27 at 1pm. The event will be introduced by James Martin, who will cook a selection of his new menu dishes.

Places are limited and are only open to local food producers.

To register your place, email communications@acute.sney.nhs.uk