CH 4 NHS hospital food

Hi - having had dealings with hospital catering when I worked as a hospital dietitian it can be very frustrating in deed. The caterers do not get much for each pt - I think it is only about £8 per week. That also in some hopsitals has to cover special supplement drinks - it varies!
It is a real lottery - have to say the food in the places I worked was very good but pts still complained - you cannot please everyone!


Allyx

ally5555 said:

Hi - having had dealings with hospital catering when I worked as a hospital dietitian it can be very frustrating in deed. The caterers do not get much for each pt - I think it is only about £8 per week. That also in some hopsitals has to cover special supplement drinks - it varies!
It is a real lottery - have to say the food in the places I worked was very good but pts still complained - you cannot please everyone!


Allyx

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Eight pounds seemed an impossibly low figure, this article about Cornish hospitals put it a bit higher at £2.50 a day in 2009. Still in my opinion not enough.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...ng-a-revolution-in-hospital-food-1637613.htmlIt's an interesting article, I wonder if there is anyone in Cornwell with personal experience of the food in those hospitals.

Here, if you don't have insurance to cover it (and almost every one does, or if they have a very low income have a free 'top up' insurance) you pay a daily rate of about 15E which is a contribution to board and lodging. My local hospital produces reasonably good food during the week, less good at weekends. The dietitians have a big input, at least in the ward I've been in. (mainly people with diabetes including newly diagnosed T1s, people on diabetes courses and those with control or weight problems, some of whom stay in for as long as 3 weeks to turn things round. Naturally,food's a vital part of the 'treatment'.)

Hi phoenix

It may have gone up but last time I spoke to the catering manager I worked with about a year ago it was £7 !

I always had a lot of input but the problem is the dietitian is really relying on other people to do the job and it does break down.
Malnutrition in hopsital has been highlighted for years - a Kings Fund report in the 90s showed it existed. Alot of work has been done to standardise recipes etc but there is still more to be done. Prisoners get more per week by the way for food!

Are we sure that we're talking PER WEEK or PER DAY here?

£44.60 pr day sounds like a hell of a lot...

Jamie Oliver needs to get involved in the quality of food being prepared in hospitals in the same manner that he did for schools. My neighbour's little girl's school now serves food fit for a King to eat. There is a good choice on the food menus every day.

I think it is appaling that diabetics get admitted to hospital only to be served up with food that is far too high in carbohydrate value and with no choice either. My friend was expected to eat sausages done in barbeque sauce, mashed potatoe and swede followed by syrup pudding drenched in custard. :? :twisted: Things would not have been so bad if she had been allowed to calculate her insulin for the carb, but the hospital nursing staff insisted on giving the insulin and often bought it round on the drugs trolley, so often it got given 2hrs late. :cry: :twisted: :twisted: They had no idea at all about the carb content of food, it was as if it was 'double dutch'. They thought that diabetics just needed to avoid sugar and that food containing carbohydrate was ok to eat in plentiful amounts. Hasten to add that my friend didn't eat the syrup pudding but the nursing staff ordered her to eat the custard. Because the hospital doesn't believe in carb counting or using a ratio to calculate bolus insulin, many diabetics do not get the correct dose of insulin and when asked if they can go home, get told 'we can't discharge you because your bg levels are too high' :twisted: :lol: :lol:

The hospital concerned needs to be 'named and shamed'

lol, remind me to move before I need to stay in a hospital - 3 of the 4 local ones are in that 'worst' list, and the 4th was the one with the poor menu I was at the other day.

Maybe it's so high for the Newmarket one because they have mainly people with chronic conditions that require a special diet? From a quick Google, it looks like they have not many beds, so that alone would make it more expensive.

I spent a week in hospital some years ago with an inflamed Gall Bladder. Now the treatment for that is minimal fat to reduce the need for bile and reduce the inflammation.

What did they try and give me ? Black pudding, Chips, Egg sandwiches etc ! If i hadn't known about the fats then I would have been worse instead of better !

I was in hospital overnight a while back. Honestly, I was FLABBERGASTED by the food options they gave me as a T2 Diabetic. Sandwiches on White bread, Potato and Leek soup, Lasagne (well, allegedly lasagna :wink: ), hot chocolate, sticky toffee pudding, fruit juice.

Shocking. There should be laws against it. Never mind being served it in hospitals, we shouln't be able to lay our hand on it if we wanted to!

Finally got to see this programme last night, the food that he was served in the first few weeks was disgusting and unfit for human consumption, however the food he was served later from the staff canteen after complaining looked delicious and should be standard that is served at all times. Factory produced food and warmed up in trolleys is no way to feed patients recovering from illness or surgery and fresh food cooked on site should be foremost, the hospital in Chelsea proved it can be done on a budget and all credit to the catering manager there and his team.

Nigel

The smell of hospital food is god awful.

You just KNOW there is no goodness in it whatsoever. The people that are making this food available (in hospitals, and ingeneral) shoud be strung up.

the amount of money per day will vary alot - I have just asked someone I know and he tells me that the average daily amount is still less than £3 /day!

The staff are not paid that well either!

I have seen the best and worst of hospital catering and even in the private sector it has not been brilliant.

The menus also have to reflect the healthy choices and the fact that when people are ill they often want "comfort" food and so they need to relect that too.

Actually I am quite glad that I am not involoved in hopsital catering any more - it gave me alot of headaches!!

Was in hospital for 5 days, just over a week ago with an infected gallbladder.

Due to the fact that I have a intolerance to corn/maize I ended up not eating for almost three days because no-one could tell me what was in the food.

Couldn't even buy natural yoghurt from anywhere in hospital (this was before I was placed on low fat/ dairy free diet). The only options were with honey or low fat flavoured with fruit/ sugar (and maize starch).

Finally saw dietitian on Tuesday who admitted she had no-idea what to do with regards to food for me. All she could suggest was a nutritional drink (which contained glucose and sucrose - great option for a diabetic!).

To say I was glad when I was discharged on Wednesday is an understatement!

Klair

I live in a small town in northwest British Columbia Canada. Our local hospital doesn't even cook it's own meals - they are brought in on trays from a distance of over an hour away. The same thing for the senior care facilities. This is all in the name if "fiscal responsibility". I don't think most patients expect cordon bleu cooking, but hot and fresh would be nice.

Dr Hilary Jones lost my respect when I heard him on the tv discussing this subject. He was very defensive of the NHS and yet having seen the documentary and also had spells in hospital there was nothing to defend! I have yet to see any decent hospital grub.

At one point he said well what do you expect when it is heated up 1/4 mile away and trundled down corridors, get your relatives to bring you in food! Erm, ok, so the food is dire because it has been carted about and yet the rellies can bring food in from miles away with no facilities to reheat or cook it and that will be better!

Ali

TheSparkyPony said:

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It was (supposedly) Irish Stew! :lol:

I have to admit, I love my local hospital's roast dinner on a Sunday (although I may be biased as I never have such a luxury at home!) but most of it is shocking.

As a T1 diabetic, I was berated for not wanting to eat breakfast (apparently I HAVE to eat, because I'm diabetic :roll: even though I haven't had breakfast for years, it's just how I roll and I treat accordingly).
I was given high carb lunches/dinners 'to keep my strength up' and was then questioned when my levels were higher later on and accused of eating brought in food! I wasn't allowed to adjust my dosages as all drug changes had to be approved by a doctor so the set doses weren't enough for what they were giving me.

The only thing that truly annoys me is the budget. The fact that prisoners eat better than patients, who, at the end of the day, need to recover, which is aided by eating healthy, nutritious food.

TheSparkyPony said:

I wasn't allowed to adjust my dosages as all drug changes had to be approved by a doctor so the set doses weren't enough for what they were giving me.

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Think I would have had something to say about that TSP, on the last 2 occasions I was in hospital I told them I wanted to give my own insulin and didn't take no for an answer. I broke my leg 20 years ago and back then they were in charge of my insulin, often I didn't get my insulin until 1-2 hours after eating so I swore that next time I was hospitalised I would be the one in charge of my insulin.

Nigel

I finally watched the programme last night and was appalled at the attitide of the catering manager - so negative to everything!

One point to the poster who says the dietitian could not help him - I think she should have asked a more senior dietitian for some help - I am not impressed!