Cost of patient and staff diet in Teaching Hospital Karapitiya, Galle

Background: Government hospitals in Sri Lanka offer all services free of charge including the patient diet. Currently patient care services are affected by increasing health care cost in state hospitals. Cost cutting measures are essential in health care management in public sector without sacrificing the standards of care provision. Analysing hospital diet costs is crucial to figuring out how to save indirect operating costs while maintaining service quality and standards.
Objective: To determine the cost of diet for patients and staff in the Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out retrospectively to determine the cost of patient and staff diet. The step-down costing method was used in this study, and secondary data was collected from kitchen records, the diet branch and the finance branch during the month of August 2023.
Results: The total expenditure for the diet during the period was 9,864,157 LKR and per unit cost was 182.76 LKR to provide diet for patients and staff. The cost of breakfast, lunch and dinner was, 117 LKR, 225.39 LKR and 179.5 LKR respectively.
Conclusion: The unit cost for diet was higher compared to previous Sri Lankan hospital study findings but lower than the present market price. Separate registers to record capital items and consumables are recommended to determine the diet cost in future and for the interventions to improve quality and reduce the cost.