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.

[BillnTedsMostFeministAdventure]

Providing formula is not just about the formula, though - it's about bottles, storage, sterilisation, warming if necessary etc. The hospital I was at had some supplies of "cartons with teats" that were disposable but they came in new born size ie 4oz and were thrown away afterwards, so were presumably expensive. They had two brands like this. These were "for emergencies".

Mothers on the post natal ward who were FF had to clean their own bottles (a steriliser was available), warm their own milk etc. I think most people brought in cartons rather than made up powder.

[Oodlives]

My hospital meal last time I was in. Not exactly appetising. Possibly nutritious but I couldn't identify it by look or taste.

[Melonbreath]

I've been hospitalised in a country where you supply your own food. It was tough as the hospital was an hour away from my house and the house boys were overworked as it was.
I ended up living on crisps, bananas and bread that one of the lovely nurses brought for me if I gave her the money.
Can't fault the treatment I had though. The ward was shabby and bare but spotless, and the nurses insisted on doing stuff like brushing my hair and cutting my nails.

[treaclesoda]

when I had ds a couple of years ago, the hospital were going through a massive infection control programme. Patients were forbidden from bringing in food. The meals were ok, not hideous, but the portions were tiny and fruit and veg were almost non existent. I was horribly, miserably, hungry the whole time (I was in for almost a week) and since there was no fruit and veg, also horribly constipated. My overall care was good but the 'no food from outside the hospital' policy made for an unpleasant stay.

[Eveningsaregettingshorter]

Twenty plus years ago I was in hospital with pregnancy complications. On a small ward with five other ladies who had been in for a while, I still smile at the memory of my dear dad (who died many years ago) turning up on his motorbike at breakfast time with bacon sandwiches for everyone in our ward as we had all been whinging about the food the night before.

[Pidgy]

Laughed out loud at this stupid post!

Currently sitting next to my DDs bed (5 1/2 months) waiting for my breakfast. I'm breastfeeding her so I get the food.

Would be absolute carnage if people needed to bring food in and a lot of people would end up eating crap.

She's on the mend so I'm happy.

[Sirzy]

I have just ran to the parents room for long enough to make myself a cup of tea (travel mugs so can bring in back to bed) thankfully staff have just delivered DS some toast, if I had had to even prepare just breakfast for him that would have involved a staff member having to watch him while I did. Let alone the time needed to sort out proper meals.

Then the space for storage, preparation and cooking. Then the food hygiene side of things.

[Writerwannabe83]

On the ward I worked on (under 12 months of age) we would provide formula but it was eventually stopped and parents were asked to bring their own in from home. The cost of providing babies with formula must be immense to the NHS

Bearing in mind the wards cannot have boxes of powdered milk, they have pre-made milk in glass bottles.

Worst case scenario : imagine the ward was full of babies who were primarily formula fed: that would be up to 21 babies that would need formula every day. If, for example, all of those babies were on 6 bottles a day (minimum) it would mean that 120 glass bottles of formula were being used a day. Plus, the bottles only contain 3oz so some babies were needing two bottles per feed.

Can you imagine how much that costs if it is happening every day? Maybe 750 pre-made glass bottles of milk a week. Although it was very unlikely that all of the 21 babies on the ward were all completely formula fed, it goes to show how in the worst case scenario the costs can easily build up over the days, then the weeks and months.

And that doesn't even account for the milk that is also needed on the Maternity ward and NICU.

We would provide milk and nappies for the baby's first day/night on the ward as obviously parents had come to A&E with no idea whether they'd be admitted or not, but after that we asked that they bring in their own milk and supplies.

I also think there was talk of the hospital not being allowed to endorse bottle feeding due to it being a Breast Feeding Friendly hospital. I know the shop within the hospital was stopped from selling formula. Understandably there was a lot of outrage that the ward was not allowed to supply formula as it meant they were encouraging bottle feeding (a load of rubbish really) so I don't know if it actually occurred as I left for another job before any final decisions were made.

[shouldnthavesaid]

More and better food would be a nicer idea. I have to feed patients at work and am frequently disgusted by the stuff they are given. We have a three week rota, for some of our patients that are in for months they eat the same stuff over and over again.

I've been told we can supply celiac, puree, vegetarian, halal, etc and seemingly even chips.

In practice though what's offered is disgusting in presentation, and to be honest there's no need for it.

Unfortunately those who have relatives that are glad to take in food parcels (or
that can afford it) seem to do well, nutrition wise. The rest must be bloody hungry.

[shouldnthavesaid]

Unfortunately only, that should say

[wonkylegs]

The first time I was admitted to hospital was at 18, freshers week at Uni when there was an outbreak of meningitis. I didn't know anybody much at Uni except my flatmates, who were also all in the infectious diseases ward at the hospital. I was 300 miles from home and terrified. I had nothing with me when I was admitted as we'd rushed my flatmate in and barely saved her from dying, she promptly slipped into a coma(we were praised for not waiting for the GP but that's another story), it was then realised the rest of us had early symptoms and we were quarantined.
How would we have fed ourselves if we had to provide food or even money at that point?
Second time I was rushed to hospital in an ambulance out of the blue - away from home, family & friends. I spent 4 days in hospital and had nothing much with me & in a really frightened state - I will never forget the kindness of the older lady in the bed next to me who gave me some spare knickers & a nightie to give me a bit more dignity than the hospital gown. Again how would I get food in that situation?

[sashh]

I have been in hospital several times and as I am always admitted with abdo pains I am never given food for at least 24 hours.

Does that mean the NHS owes me a number of meals?

Also we are talking about a HOSPITAL, you know where people are ill.

Where bringing in food that has not been prepped in a commercial kitchen could bring in contaminants that could end up making someone very very ill.

[crumpet]

My 2 stays in hospital to have each of dd and F's were a real eye opener.

Hospital 1: menu brought round each day to tick your choices, then food delivered to your bed. Tray removed and if it was untouched no questions were asked. In my whole stay (over a week) there was no way anyone in the hospital would have known whether I'd eaten anything.

Hospital 2: (4 day stay) we had to go up to a central station on the ward to collect food. The only clue that the food had arrived was the smell. No-one explained the routine, and after a cs I was expected to discover this myself and haul myself up there from day 1. And again, no record of who had eaten anything.

Simply frightening for anyone who has no family/ friends to bring in supplies.

[MammaTJ]

When my Ds was in hospital he was on a wheat and dairy free diet, prescribed by the paediatrician in that hospital.

Every meal he got ham and chips! They couldn't even guarantee that the chips were dairy free as often frozen ones come with a whey coating.

I complained and moaned.

I was not in a position to bring in food from home as home is 22 miles away!

Eventually the head of catering came to see me and said it would never happen again.

[RedToothBrush]

My 90 year old grandfather was admitted to hospital as an emergency last Monday as he'd had another fall. He is extremely frail and thin at the moment.

There were no beds nearby so he had to go to a hospital 25miles from where he lives. His wife has no car and struggles getting about much herself so has not been able to visit daily. Nor does she particularly want to. My grandfather has always been a difficult man at the best of times and is finding it hard to cope with no longer being in control and having to be cared for at all. She has been struggling with caring for him lately and was very distressed the night before the latest fall on the phone to my father. She is not in the best health herself and needed a break and they had been discussing how this could be arranged.

My parents live over 200 miles away so although they are quite happy and prepared to help, its extremely difficult (and also relies on my grandfather allowing them to see him).

If family had to supply food, then the NHS would be saving money, because quite frankly he'd have probably starved to death by now.

[Latara]

Hospitals should definitely supply food as it's actually part of many people's treatment to eat properly.

The hospital food is usually fortified with extra fats for the malnourished elderly people who come into hospital - for example they may only eat a teaspoon of mash but that mash is fortified with butter and full fat milk.

Food gives people energy and the proteins help wound healing.

The food and the menu choices have definitely improved in our hospital; also we have systems in place to ensure that everyone who wants to eat does eat; for example the red plate system to alert people to who needs monitoring, food charts and a system whereby patients who require feeding are flagged up at the start of a shift and are allocated staff to feed them.

For patients who refuse the hospital food we do often encourage relatives to bring in food that the patient may prefer, but some patients just refuse food whatever you do. That's when we have to ensure that every mouthful counts by fortifying the patient food.

[sanfairyanne]

all the hospitals abroad i have stayed in/visited, you had to supply your own food or pay for it (exceptions on benefits i think and children)
i dont have a problem with it. the food in uk hospitals is dire anyway.

some hospitals you had to bring your pain relief!! step too far

[sanfairyanne]

in fact i am pretty sure in france, at least when i was there, you pay a non refundable 'board and lodging' fee.

french medical care is amazing

[DogCalledRudis]

YABVU. When you're in hospital bed, would you need to go shopping and then... Cooking? Ffs. Yes, family and relatives can bring in some odd item, but not a cooked dinner. And at the hospital where i stayed, food was very finest quality and delicious.

[HecatePropylaea]

I think that surely to god if there is one place where there could be enough compassion so that everyone could just be fed it's in the hospital!

It's a fairly basic level of care, isn't it? To ensure that people who are so ill they are hospitalised don't need to worry about getting food.

Sorry mrs jones, I know you are 87, bed ridden and have no family but you won't be eating again today because you haven't organised anything.

Last dregs of humanity in society just dribbled away right there.

[beccajoh]

Our local hospital has formula milk for babies who are admitted to the ward, but only two brands. I guess if you wanted something different you'd have to provide it.

Not feeding people would be chaotic.

[Madsometimes]

Dd2 was in hospital with bronchiolitis at 4 months and was formula fed. I honestly can't remember if I provided her formula. She was being tube fed for most of the time, so the nurses did the feeding using some kind of a syringe.

This was 10 years ago. The feeding was definitely a big part of her treatment because she was too weak to do it herself. In fact feeding and oxygen therapy was her treatment because ab's don't work on viruses. I remember them keeping records of the amount of milk taken and if she kept it down.