gems_goldet said:
Hi there,
I'm a (non-diabetic) medical student currently researching the diets diabetic patients in hospital have because it has come to my attention that, for some, it is anywhere from poor to totally uncontrolled. I was wondering if anyone knew of any hopsital in the UK where they had had a good experience with the food they were served: i.e. where they thought that they were offered food that was suitable in the context of their condition and where they thought that their Diabetes was taken into account when chosing their meals.
Thanks in advance.
Unfortunately there are as many diabetic diets as there are diabetics so to find a hospital that would cater for a "diabetic" would be totally open to your opinion of what a diabetic diet should be.
You then ask about whether our "condition" is taken into account when choosing our meals as if there is a choice of meals available within NHS hospitals.
In my experience of my local hospital, which coincidently has the dubious honour of being the first NHS hospital to be declared bankrupt
*, the food is inedible for anyone least of all for most diabetics.
I survived my experience of their intensive care unit mainly due to the excellent care I received from the medical staff there and the fact that the nurses allowed me to order breakfast from the restaurant rather than from the cleaning company who have the catering contract as well, I have no idea who paid for this breakfast but I assume it was thought it would be of benefit in helping critically ill patients to recover better by giving them an edible breakfast. And I also thank my wife who brought in my lunch and evening meals.
On the two medical wards I was unlucky enough to have to stay on the meals were cooked off site and re heated and dished out by the cleaners who had been cleaning the wards 10 minutes earlier, and when I say that those meals were inedible I am being truthful. And of course on the ordinary wards I wasnt lucky enough to be allowed to "choose" a breakfast from the hospital restaurant.
I think that you will soon discover that sorting out the cash strapped NHS is going to have a much higher priority than arranging a choice of menus in hospitals that are being run completely independently of each other, to get one hospital trust to agree to give their patients a choice would be hard enough to but to roll out a nation wide initiative would be impossible under the current disjointed system.
* The South London Trust is to be broken up and some services will no doubt have to close, my local hospital is to be taken over by Kings Trust The former Kings College Hospital at Denmark Hill assuming the government give Kings what their want financially, I assume it will go ahead as they are currently taking space in local supermarkets telling the locals what a great new service we will have under Kings. You know the better services and better uses of the available resources rubbish :thumbdown:
In the words of Dads Army's Private James Fraser "
were all doomed"
I would add that the staff at the Pru as it affectionately known are doing a great job under almost intolerable conditions due to the lack of cash and the Private Health Initiative which is taking the lions share of what little money is available. All those responsible for these PHI's should IMHO be charged with fraud and imprisoned for life for what they have done to our local hospital and others up and down the country.
Kings to acquire Princes Royal University Hospital -
http://www.kch.nhs.uk/news/public/news/view/11622
On the other hand I may just be a cynic and this government will be remembered for their outstanding contribution to NHS services, what do you think?
Sorry if this answer doesnt help your research at all but you touched a nerve