A scheme encouraging patients to eat more using coloured plates has won a national award.

The Solent NHS Trust trialled blue plates and bowls on two community wards in Southampton, reducing food waste by 20 per cent.

This initiative was recognised in the Awards for Excellence in Waste Management for the NHS in England.

The project was awarded silver in the best reduction of food waste category. The blue colour is said to make the food more appealing rather than white plates.

The trial, conducted on two rehab wards at the Royal South Hants Hospital, also resulted in a 14 per cent increase in the number of empty plates.

Patient feedback was described as "phenomenal," with some patients saying the cornflower blue plates gave their meals a restaurant feel.

The Solent NHS Trust has now become part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Catering operations manager Iain Robertson, national chair of the Hospital Caterers’ Association, said the results were "too good to ignore" - and blue crockery was introduced across Solent’s Southampton and Portsmouth sites within days.

The trust has since started also using distinctive purple plates to highlight meals for patients with allergies.

Mark Young, deputy director of Estates and Facilities, said: "Our catering team thoroughly deserve this national recognition for such a success story. It is amazing to think that a simple switch from white to blue crockery has had this impact.

"We are hoping the impressive results will encourage other NHS organisations to follow suit, potentially having a dramatic effect on food wastage across the country."

The experiment was first trialled to deal with food waste at the hospital. 

For the first four weeks, it was business as usual for the ward catering staff, who dished out normal sized portions on the usual white crockery. Any leftovers were weighed as before, but the team now also recorded the number of empty plates.

For the second four weeks, catering staff served the same food and portion sizes but this time using cornflower blue plates and bowls.

At the end of the eight-week trial, monitored by NHS England, there had been a 20.6 per cent decrease in plate waste and an increase of 14 per cent in the number of empty plates.