Weekend hospital meals, in the NHS design system

The need

In this example, patients choose weekend meals on a paper menu. Menus get lost, the kitchen cannot always read the choices, and allergies depend on staff checking each card by hand.

The evidence

This is a brief I set myself, so there is no research yet. The plan starts with two weeks of discovery on two wards, talking to patients, ward hosts, nurses, kitchen staff, and dietitians.

What I changed, round by round

1. One question per page, clear error messages, a check answers page, and food with the patient's allergies hidden.
2. A ward staff journey to add a new patient to a bed, and flowcharts with every error state.
3. Orders that stay with the patient when they move, and changes up to 12 hours before a meal. Then the National Health Service (NHS) version, which became the main one.
4. Each example in its own window.
5. UK-style food labels with allergens in bold, traffic lights for fat, saturates, sugars, and salt, and a drink with every meal.

The result

Two working services, with a record of every decision. The main one uses the NHS design system, and a second uses the GOV.UK Design System to compare. Automated checks found no failures against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA. Next, I would test the journey with patients on a ward, including people who use screen readers and magnification.