Hospital food standards in section 173 of the Health and Care Act 2022: political magic with a soggy bottom

This article argues that section 173 of the Health and Care Act 2022 is a purely symbolic provision that will not effect any positive change to hospital food quality. In order to make this argument, I explore Murray Edelman’s work on the symbolic uses of politics and the literature on policy fiascos to explain why section 173 features in the 2022 Act at all. This is followed by a close analysis of what section 173 purports to do, which concludes that there is no substantive change to day-to-day practice as a result. This meets Lasswell’s definition of ‘political magic’. The article concludes with the argument that the only way to actually improve hospital food is to set aspirational standards and increase the budget to allow institutions to approach food provision in a holistic manner.