Health Secretary Matt Hancock has ordered a 'root and branch' review of hospital food after two further deaths were linked to an outbreak of listeria.

The latest announcement from Public Health England (PHE) takes the number of confirmed cases to five and evidence suggested that the deceased ate the products before 25 May.

The hospitals where the pateients died are the Leicester Royal Infirmary, and Royal Derby Hospital. A further four hospitals, William Harvey in Ashford, Wexham Park Hospital in Berkshire, St Richards Hospital, in Chichester, Sussex, and Worthing Hospital, have been affected by the outbreak.

The first case showed symptoms on April 25 and sandwiches and salads were withdrawn on May 25, as soon as a link with the cases was suspected. It is understood that some of the products were sold at hospitals while others were given to patients.

Good Food Chain had been supplied with meat produced by North Country Cooked Meats, which subsequently tested positive for listeria.

The company stated that it was co-operating 'fully and transparently with the Food Standards Agency and other authorities' and said it hoped the inquiry would be pursued with 'urgency so the wider industry can learn any lessons as soon as possible'.

Hancock commented, 'I have been incredibly concerned by this issue and strongly believe that we need a radical new approach to the food that is served in our NHS.

‘Staff, patients and families deserve so much better – our NHS should be at the forefront of supporting people to make healthy choices. I have instructed the NHS to conduct a root and branch review of hospital food.’

Hancock told the Commons, “There are dozens of hospital trusts that have brought their catering inhouse and found that you get better quality food more likely to be locally produced and better value for money by bringing the delivery of food services in house.

'That is something we are going to be examining very closely because I am very attracted to that model and it also has the potential to reduce the risk of safety concerns like this.”

Hancock said later that he'd been struck by the number of hospital chief executives who had told him that bringing food supplies in house was “the best thing they have done” to improve nutrition and food quality.

(sources: BBC, ITV, Metro, The Telegraph image: pexels)