Seven teams of NHS chefs from across England are battling it out today (Friday, October 24, 2026) for the title of NHS Chef 2025.
As well as assessing the dishes, the judges have also kept a keen eye on workstation cleanliness and teams are expected to minimise food waste, thus reflecting issues chefs and kitchen teams face every day in their hospitals.
The format of NHS Chef has changed slightly this year, and all finalists have progressed through to the last day. At the start of the day there were just five points between the first and fifth placed teams, so with 700 points available during today’s final challenge, there is everything to cook for.
Illness has forced a couple of the teams to replace chefs from the initial rounds, and one of the teams is now mixed from two Trusts.
Good luck to everyone.
The seven teams competing today are:
Joanne Downs and Karolina Morawiec
Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (North View site)
Nedko Rusev and Joe Omolo
Guys & St Thomas’s Trust, supported by Stepping Hill Hospital
Christoffer Dopico Alles and Angelika Purtak
Southampton Hospital
Eddie Makuwaza and Anthony Akhil
University Hospitals of Leicester
Chloe Millis-Poole and Martin Spray
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
Amanda Barber and Sosana Suk Han Chan
Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (Prestwich site)
Razwanah Ansari and Josephine Oboh
Harefield Hospitals
