Prince Charles wrote "black spider letter" supporting Worcester Park campaigner trying to get organic food into hospitals

Mike Duckett MBE, 67, from Worcester Park, was head of catering at the Royal Brompton Hospital, in west London, for 12 years before retiring in 2012.

He led an initiative linking the hospital’s catering to local farmers’ hubs.

A total of 35 to 40 per cent of the ingredients used to create patient meals in the on-site kitchens were locally-produced and organic.

Prince Charles was invited by the Soil Association to visit Mr Duckett at the hospital in 2008.

Mr Duckett said: "It was the first hospital to use ingredients straight from farms in the home counties.

"Prince Charles was very interested in the farming and the organic side of things.

"He came along with 20-odd chief executives from different hospitals from all over the country."

In a letter written shortly after the visit, on July 28, 2008, Prince Charles commended Mr Duckett’s work to then Labour Health Secretary Alan Johnson.

The correspondence is one of the heir to the throne’s controversial "black spider letters", so-called for his handwriting, which The Guardian newspaper campaigned to have published for a decade.

The letter, released last week by the Cabinet Office, stated: "The Royal Brompton happens to have a quite brilliant head of catering called Mike Duckett.

"Mike says that buying seasonal, fresh (and, wherever possible, organic) food has ensured patients enjoy better quality and more flavourful food... and so their health has, of course, benefitted.

"And because they enjoy eating it, waste has been minimised.

"The reason I wanted to draw this highly imaginative and innovative initiative to your attention is because it so clearly ‘ticks many of the appropriate boxes’ as far as enhanced sustainability, local sourcing, lower food miles and better patient health are concerned.

"My office can certainly provide more information on this if it would help at all... You might even find a visit to the Royal Brompton to be particularly illuminating!"

Mr Duckett said he did not agree with the controversy surrounding Prince Charles’ perceived lobbying of Government ministers in this way.

"I think it’s his right to write to people if he’s got something to say and it makes sense and it’s good for the Government and for the population," he said.

"He does a good job."

A few months after Mr Johnson received Prince Charles’ letter, Mr Duckett said he was invited to Whitehall to discuss his work with the Health Secretary - but was left disappointed.

"He said he had heard about the good things I was doing and asked me what money we were saving," Mr Duckett said.

"He was only interested in the money.

"I said ‘it’s not costing any more’. He wanted to know what financial gain there would be for the Government.

"We weren’t saying we were saving any more, but we were giving patients good food."

Mr Duckett, who was awarded an MBE for his services to improve hospital food in 2009, worked in the health service for 48 years.

Now retired, he is still involved with the Campaign for Better Hospital Food because "somebody has to stand up and say where it’s going wrong".

He said he hoped more hospitals would take up his approach to patient meals, but most have not.

Instead, he said many trusts - driven by a need to cut costs - were increasingly turning to ready meals and processed food.

"They buy food which has already been cooked elsewhere and is then reheated and it’s not very nice," Mr Duckett said.

"Reheated food lacks the essential nutrients patients require. They are full of e-numbers and additives.

"The food is all regenerated together for 40 minutes. For example gravy and potatoes don’t take that long to reheat but meat does and it ends up being overcooked.

"There are poor ingredients. Hospitals are buying the cheapest they can and the recipe outcome isn’t good and there is a high wastage of food.

"35 per cent of food is wasted in the NHS and the Government spends over £500m a year on hospital food."

Mike Duckett has become a keen painter in his retirement 

He said many hospitals had closed their kitchens and no longer had a chef.

"Unfortunately what the hospital trusts are doing, because of all these financial constraints, is buying food already prepared, ready meals, and closing their kitchens and getting rid of staff as all they need is someone to re-heat the meals.

"The trusts think it’s cheaper to bring food in but ready meals are a third more expensive than the food they could make themselves.

"They think getting rid of the chefs and kitchens will offset the more expensive ready meals, but in real terms that doesn’t happen."

Mr Duckett said another "revenue stream" for hospitals was leasing out buildings to private food outlets such as Pret A Manger, Caffe Nero and even fast-food giant McDonalds - despite the fact they often charge more, do not always promote healthy eating, and the profit does not go to the hospital.

He said: "In the Marks and Spencer in St George’s Hospital in Tooting, the food is more expensive than the same store in Tooting High Street. It’s ridiculous.

"When I was at the Royal Brompton I ran the retail cafe myself at the entrance.

"Ground coffee was £1, compared to £1.80 at places like Caffe Nero, and the money came back to the trust.

"There are lots of voluntary workers willing to run these types of cafes for free.

"If you look at the costs all over, the hospitals are not saving much money."

From March: Patients are now being served only one hot meal a day at Epsom and St Helier hospitals

Mr Duckett said he did not agree with the 'a la carte' lunchtime menus which were introduced at Epsom and St Helier hospitals last year to give patients greater choice.

"They are trying to give the patients a big menu, like being at a five-star hotel," he said.

"What they want is a basic meal they can understand and eat.

"There is too much choice.

"It must cost the hospitals a fortune as they need to keep all those choices in the hospital in case someone orders it."

In December 2013, the Government set up the Hospital Food Standards Panel which introduced new mandatory food standards into NHS contracts for the first time.

But a number of food manufacturers, including Apetito - one of the biggest suppliers of hospital food in the countr - sit on the panel.

Mr Duckett said: "It’s a load of nonsense really. They thought ‘we can hear what people are saying and let’s do something about it politically’."

He added: "It was nice to have this letter from Prince Charles saying it was a shame no one has taken up our work with more rigour."