Should people in hospital supply thier own food.

[ICanSeeTheSun]

Another thread reminded me that when my Ff'd niece was in hospital my sister had to bring all her food in, as in her formula she was 5 months and not at that point had her first taste of solids.

Now based on this, where a patient is a baby and the hospital don't fund thier food should the NHS fund an adult to eat.

[expatinscotland]

Oh, no, wading, just reminiscing myself about hospital times .

Katie, I had to cart my daughter's washing and mine over a mile to a laundrette. Someone who was not as fit or young, like your mother, would have been unable to do this.

[weatherall]

I remember being ridiculously hungry in hospital.

I had no one to bring in food.

And I had no money to buy any (benefit claim still pending so absolutely zero).

More and better hospital food is needed.

[x2boys]

Hi Katie where I work now in acute mental health there are washing machines and dryers but I also worked on a long stay dementia ward becausevi work for a large mental health trust but my actual department was in a a general hospital w e did not have access to the laudery in fact I think its been closed down now there was a small normal washing machine for patients who had no relatives there washing was done by the nursing staff but the vast majority had relatives who took it home not right I agree but unfortunately the trust is always cutting services like housekeepers whose job was to do washing they don't have their priorities right I agree !

[Darkesteyes]

These reletives who would be bringing food in and doing laundry and bringing clean laundry back and food each day Would these be the same relatives who lose their Carers Allowance when the person goes into hospital

[Sixweekstowait]

And of course, families save a fortune when a family member is in hospital - no travel costs when going to see them, no money spent on extras like magazines and treats, no extra money spent on their own food because they're having more convenience food or buying food in the hospital canteen. Yep - when my dd and DH have been in hospital, I saved so much money I was really gutted when they were discharged

[Sirzy]

When DS was a baby and admitted they did provide milk but the ward no longer does other than in emergencies. Most parents carry some milk with them if they are ff though which is pretty easy to do until someone can bring more.

DS was admitted to hopsital at 4pm today. I have eaten one bar of chocolate since then, thankfully he has been provided with a meal as he is the patient. Getting and preparing food isn't that simple when your in hospital!

[ChronicChronicles]

Frequently now specific hospitals are becoming specialist, so your loved one could have a long stay in a hospital miles away. My Nanna had kidney failure, and we travelled 45 mins a day to see her, which is nothing compared to some, and there is no way we could have done it three times a day to sort meals out - as we all had to continue working for the months she was an inpatient before she died.

[PrincessBabyCat]

They should be providing the formula (and I know they do have some). What if you bring your baby in during an emergency and they keep them overnight? Are you suppose to leave your child to run home and get them food? You should never have to leave your child alone at a hospital during an emergency.

Or what if mother and baby are in a car accident and both are in the hospital? It seems ridiculous to let a baby starve because no one can bring them in some formula, while the baby can't breast feed. They have formula at the hospitals, they have to in order to cover emergencies or parents being stranded or unable to leave. Why they aren't providing it so the baby can eat while the parents stay and worry about more important things like oh I don't know their baby's health, is beyond me.

But if your baby has a specific formula you want them to have, then you might have to get it yourself which is understandable as hospitals cannot stock every type and brand.

Then again, my perspective might be skewed. I live in the US and even having to share a room is rare. When I took DD to the hospital when she got a fever, they sent me home with a package of free diapers and travel wipes so we could have a full diaper bag. When I stayed post natal we had our own room with a double bed we could both sleep in together and a menu we could order from, and the nurses just told me to order double so me and DH could eat for free. So take my opinion how you will.

[Xcountry]

I always supply my own food for the most part, apart from toast most hospital food is rank and microwaved. I refuse to let it pass my lips.

[x2boys]

I think they do in an emergency princess but in the UK it is now expected that parents generally provide formula whether on a paediatric ward or maternity ward .

[FanFuckingTastic]

I am in hospital a lot, I'd be totally skint if I had to provide food as there aren't many options when you are confined to bed and can't shop and produce my own cheap meals.

Once I was rushed to hospital in the middle of the night for a bowel blockage, I was alone with my toddler, they dropped him with his Nana on the way in to hospital as it was conveniently the middle of the night. I was put straight onto gas and air, so never even thought to take my bag or grab anything in case of a long stay. I went three days with no change of clothes, no toiletries and no toothbrush. There was no one to call and i was too embarrassed to admit to it. I used hand soap to clean myself and my finger to clean the worst on my teeth.

I layer found out that the hospital can help out with these things too, as well as feeding you.

[PrincessBabyCat]

I think they do in an emergency princess but in the UK it is now expected that parents generally provide formula whether on a paediatric ward or maternity ward.

Isn't any time you're admitted to the hospital for an extended period of time an emergency? I can't imagine they're admitting non-emergency people for longer than a couple hours before booting them.

[Monty27]

So what's that NI insurance that's deducted from salaries every month for??

FFS!

[x2boys]

Apparently not princess like I said it is generally expected that you provide your own formula but tbh if you were an adult inpatient you wouldn't really want to eat NHS food its crap and tasteless and very minute portions I say this as a nurse!

[Monty27]

I agree with that, I've only ever been in hospital to have babies, thankfully, and formula was provided while I was learning to bf. I provided all nappies etc. Dh brought me in McDonalds

However, when I've visited people the food looks and smells disgusting.

[differentnameforthis]

And at home you have access to all your cooking supplies, to plenty of place to store food, to a cooker, day or night, whenever your child is hungry

And you are not pre-occupied & stressed by the ill health of a child.

Getting food cooked for you in hospital is done so that you can rest/recover! In the case of a very ill child, the last thing I would want to be preoccupied with is wondering what I need to cook for them.

[PrincessBabyCat]

Well, the food isn't great here either (it's better than airline food, but not by much), but they had a little snack bar on our floor that we could grab yoplait yogurts, sodas, juice, basic fruit that we were encouraged to get up and walk to. So I won't complain.

What if you forget the formula when your in labor? I packed my bags with pregnancy brain and brought a Nintendo 3DS so I wouldn't get bored (ha!), but no toothbrush or hair brush. It's all well and good to lecture new mothers about what they should have done, but the fact stands they are at the hospital with a baby and no means of getting food if they can't breast feed. It just seems silly to not have it on hand.

[Xcountry]

I'm with x2 on this front, I cant see anyone who would volunteer to eat hospital 'food' unless they were starving. I'm amazed that they are able to even label it as food half the time. I doubt even Oliver Twist would be asking for more at my hospital.

[x2boys]

Well I did princess the maternity wards changed their policy just prior to ds2 being born in that they didn't provide formula and neglected to tell us they had when ds1 was born they relutatley gave me a bottle for his first feed but dh was then expected to go home and get the formula after that .

[OurMiracle1106]

Yabu but for those who say she could have breast fed well not everyone can. My supply dried up within a couple of hours of giving birth

[PrincessBabyCat]

x2 But what if you didn't have DH to run home for you? I think it would be pretty rotten of them to continue to bully, lecture, and cause extra stress every time you needed to feed when nothing could be done about the situation.

I think we're probably in agreement, but they should just provide it for you and make it one less thing to worry about.

[hedgemoo]

Food needs to be overhauled in hospitals. When I went in for my induction I was horribly hungry for days. You can't go out to the hospital restaurant, the horrid little shop is closed at weekends and the vending machine was broken. All of the above sold unhealthy, overpriced crap anyway. The meals given had tiny portion sizes. Fine for a sick elderly person (maybe) but in no way adequate for a labouring/post partum woman. Everyone was getting their family to bring piles of food.

AIBU to think plain lack of food probably contributes to some births ending up needing intervention? My induction was failing to kick off until I begged the midwife to sneak me an extra piece of toast. Food is so foundational to health, surely money spent here would lead to savings elsewhere.

It's a bit harsh say baby could have been breastfed - maybe they couldn't, and any case breastfeeding is not free, the mother needs to (or should) consume good food, the calories need some from somewhere!

[maggiethemagpie]

What they seem to be doing is to make food so horrible that anyone with any money or sense buys their own! It worked when I was last in hospital Bit unfair on those who are poor or unable to get rellies to bring in extras, but at least then they will not starve.

[ikeaismylocal]

Ds was admitted to hospital when he was 5 weeks old, the hospital provided all nappies, wipes and formula ( if needed) ds was very ill when we took him to hospital, he was struggling to breath and turning blue, we didn't even take the changing bag with us as we were just panicking about ds's breathing.

The free nappies were really useful for the first night as we had nothing for ds, ds was breastfed so we didn't need formula but it would have been useful if he wasn't bf. Dp went home the day after to collect stuff for us, I think we should have been expected to provide our ownnappies after that.

A friend's dc was admitted to hospital in the UK with the same thing as my ds, she was put on a shared ward with no place for tge mum to sleep ( despite the baby being breastfed) half the children on the ward had rs virus and half the children had norovirus, unsurprisingly my friend and her dc went home with norovirus, they were readmitted to the same ward. I think the NHS should prioritise keeping infections patients in isolation rather than worry about food, formula or nappies.