Six volunteer-run cafés in Nottingham's hospitals are set to be taken over by a French catering firm.
The cafés and three on-ward trolleys are currently run by The Royal Voluntary Service - one of the UK's largest hospital retailers.
All the cafés and trolley services are run by local staff and volunteers at the three hospital sites.
The retail offer for the cafés inside Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham City Hospital and Ropewalk House is due to end after the charity was unsuccessful in renewing its tender.
Instead Elior, a French multi-national commercial catering company, has been awarded the new contract. The value and length of the contract has not been disclosed.
One volunteer at the café said: "The RVS have been an institution for so many years. The coffee and tea are all reasonably priced with a loyalty card and they have good food and great staff.
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"A big service that the RVS does, which many are unaware of, is that they will actively employ people with differing ailments which in turn gives them confidence to get back into the community."
A service user added: "Being staffed by volunteers, there is always a friendly person on hand. Someone, not only to serve you, but also to have a chat.
"These lovely people do this because they enjoy it. It helps them to feel valued and have a purpose.
"Some do it so they have something to get up for as an alternative to sitting in their home on their own. Having worked on wards at the hospital I always found it much more pleasant to visit the RVS Cafés."
Mark Olliver, director of retail and property for the Royal Voluntary Service confirmed the retail offer, run by Royal Voluntary Service, will close.
He said: "Royal Voluntary Service was invited to tender for the planned provision by the Trust and we are extremely disappointed to have been unsuccessful.
“Our volunteers and staff at the hospitals have worked tremendously hard and we know their efforts have been hugely appreciated by patients and visitors; in addition to our volunteers gifting their time, Royal Voluntary Service has also donated financial gifts to the Trust, most recently £50,000 to provide wheelchairs at the hospitals.
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"We would like to take this opportunity to thank our team for everything they have done to make the services at the hospitals successful.
"We are working with our volunteers to identify other opportunities and roles that may be available to them in the local community.”
Andrew Chatten, director of estates and facilities at NUH, said the changes were in direct response to patient and staff feedback.
He said: “We are pleased to announce that following a mini retail outlet tender, Elior has been awarded a new contract to provide some services across NUH.
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"Elior currently provide a number of catering and retail services across our hospitals and will therefore be adding to their service offer, providing a wide range of food, drink and retail services to patients, visitors and staff.
“These changes are in direct response to patient and staff feedback and will enable us to offer a more extensive range of facilities to everyone. As part of the offering, we plan to have fresh fruit and veg stalls at our hospital as part of our Trust-wide commitment to provide healthy options.
“We would like to take the opportunity to thank the staff and volunteers who continue to support our retail services for their hard-work and dedication to our hospitals.”
A date has not been set for when the cafés will close.
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