To expect better food choices on a childrens ward?

[NoodleFace]

Chips, mash, beans, fish fingers, chicken nuggets, sausage and pasta with bolognaise or cheese sauce. AIBU To think this is a disgusting choice of food for a childrens ward?

We have been in hospital since Wednesday and this is the daily menu, occasionally there will be a choice of jacket spud (no fillings other than above) or sandwiches, beans subbed for peas.

Is it unreasonable to expect more variety, with potentially a different special dish each day? Maybe a casserole or baked dish in addition to the other rubbish food options?

Sounds ok to me, put it this way - it's the kind of foods I loved as a child. But yes, more veg would be healthier.

When I was 4 I was in hospital having my tonsils out (in 1981!).
I remember eating nothing but white buttered toast and ice cream! Yum!
You have to eat toast when you have your tonsils out to get your throat used to food again.

The food in the hospital I work in is very good with an amazing selection that even I (fussy eater) would eat, but some patients STILL complain.

But we don't have a paediatric ward in my hospital.

Inthedarkaboutfashion
What a lovely post, I think that about sums things up.

In the dark that's great that you Re allowed to do so.

I've had the opposite experience. My child at the time could Bly eat a few foods, and was being admitted to a large city children's hospital. Local dietican asked them to provide food, they said they couldn't. Fine I said I would take our own food.

No not allowed to re health and safety.

No solution was found, my child was Dmitted, they couldn't provide food, I took food but wasn't allowed to feed them it.

We sat in a ward listening to children ordering their food and eating it. All the while my 5 year old cried. I ended up discharging against medical advice ( she wasn't ill as such, but being admitted for tests) we were to be there a week , her they told me to let her cry to sleep hungry!!

I complained and almost a year later am still to hear back.

This was Edinburgh sick kids

Helensburgh- I am shocked that the hospital wouldn't let you bring any food in. I have been in 5 different hospitals with my son and every one has allowed me to bring food in, in fact they encouraged it when they were uncertain about whether they could get a dietary specific meal in time for the next mealtime. One if them seemed very relieved that I was organised enough to ensure my son wasn't going to go hungry if they couldn't sort something in time.
One of the hospitals did once say that they would need confirmation from the paediatrician that my child does have the allergies and intolerances but they ordered the food before they got the approval through from the paediatrician and then put it on file retrospectively.
It's very sad to hear that a hospital wouldn't let a child have food that the parents had brought in (unless they were nil by mouth). That is just a stupid rule because most people I know hardly eat hospital food and rely on food provided by family members.

Really poorly people don't have much of an appetite anyway, imo.

I know , inthe dark. It's mad isnt it!

Sorry my post was a bit ranty! I'm still angry about it, months later!

The daft thing was my child had to sit and watch another child eat a takeaway brought in by parents, I questioned it and was told it was because the food establishment would have hygiene certificates, my home wouldn't.

I think it really is a postcode lottery.
Our local kids ward has the same sort of stuff as the OP listed - no better than the average kids pub menu - including teddy and dinosaur shapes made from processed chicken/turkey rubbish.
My DD is coeliac and would not be able to eat any of it - on the one time she was admitted as a day patient, the only food they had available to offer her as a snack, to make sure she was able to eat before sending her home (she had fasted for 12 hours then had GA and an endoscope down her throat and they wanted to make sure everything was still working) was cereal or toast - both loaded with gluten of course! Luckily I had a banana in my bag!
SIL had a great experience when her DS was admitted to their local hosp - there was a parents lounge with a fridgefreezer and microwave on the kids ward, and the "friends of the hospital" kept the freezer stocked with ready meals - now isn't that just a lovely gesture! Should they feel inclined, parents who have used meals can replace them when they leave.
Contrast that to my friend being admitted with a 2 week old baby with meningitis, who was in with the baby for 5 weeks, doing all the care and BFing and was "not the patient" so did not get one meal. They had to rely on snacks and meals being brought in by family and friends or she would have had to leave the hospital to go out and eat. Aside from anything, who can afford to eat out all the time for every meal for 5 weeks!

The food has improved massively in the hospital I work in (wales) but the portion sizes are tiny.

Someone up thread made a good point about hospitals serving up food that's most popular.

Our hospital monitors food waste. All left over food has to be bagged up and sent back to the main kitchen. The ward based caterers have to order the amount of meals per bed and no more. They are questioned and then monitored by catering managers if too much food waste is sent back.

I've got to be honest, the amount of food I've seen going to waste is obscene. Not necessarily because its disgusting, but many patients are too ill to have a good appetite.

If you work on an elderly ward, you will notice the food is slightly different to that of a general adult or children's ward. They tend to provide 'old classic' dishes like casseroles and stews with pudding & custard or ice cream for dessert.

I'm sure they don't just put chicken nuggets and chips on the menu for the sake of it. I bet the trays of chicken nuggets are empty when the trolley goes back to the kitchen, and the waste bags are full of things like pesto sauce and pasta.

Saying all this though, more fruit and veg should be an option.

I have to say that our (primary) school meals are much better than those. And they're very popular too.

I work in a secondary school and the food is a disgrace. In hospital having my son last year it was miles better.

oldfarticus they have already taken away our pensions. Many people I know invest privately as quite simply the pension provision is not very generous. I wish you would fact check.

As for salaried GPs, they actually don't earn that much in relation to their expertise, time spent studying, and the amount of indemnity they have to pay. If you are talking about gp partners, there is an ever decreasing number of them as they are not being replaced as they retire. You may read the daily wail but their sensationalist stories of gp salaries are not the reality.

High calorie, plain, familiar, easy to eat and digest food - perfect on a children's ward/

Far from being lazy, the menu was a deliberate policy to ensure children eat

This is exactly what I would expect; these are children who might not eat at all. Wastage in unwanted fresh fruit would be daft, too.

But not familiar to all children!

Ds spent a lot of time in hospital between the ages of 2-4 and it was the same junk food mentioned in the OP which he had never tasted at home before. When I asked why there was no real food (meat, veg) on the menu I was told that it was because it was what most children preferred. Some stays they allowed us to order from the (very nice and much healthier) adults' menu and other times we brought food in or fetched salad from the visitors and staff restaurant.

Shame that the unhealthy eaters dictate to healthy eaters - in a hospital!

Most healthy foods such as lots of fruit and veg are hard to digest and are low-calorie. Not great for recovery.

Surely it just generates massive waste?

I don't have DC yet but in my own experience of NHS wards, I was on a side ward with 3 older ladies. We all sent meals back untouched or refused them because they were rank, greasy and fatty reheated stuff which you just can't stomach when you are recovering from surgery. Why can't there be soup and crackers? Is that really so hard to produce?

Last time I was in, I didn't eat from Sun to Weds am. I don't think that speeded up my recovery!

Our experience at edinburgh sick kids was to polar opposite to yours Helensburgh.

Dd has just been discharged after a 6 week stay. I was cooking her meals in the parents accommodation, friends were bringing home cooked meals and all this was actively encouraged by the staff.

It was 6 days into our stat before dd was offered a single vegetable although fruit was available anytime by request.

The meal options were fairly good in all fairness. I think they had a fairly good balance. There was usually at least a couple of junk options and 1 actual meal but there was definitely an assumption that she wouldn't be interested in the vegetable sides.

If your child couldn't or wouldn't eat any of the options then they would order from the staff canteen if necessary. We were on the neurological ward though and long stays are fairly common.

I don't gave a problem with hospital offering chicken nuggets and chips with every meal as many people have pointed out its important to get food into them at these times and not worth a big fight.

I do have a problem with their not being the option for a healthier diet if a child wants to eat it

Ninewells in Dundee saved my child's life. By the time we were of HDU and able to give a shiney shite about the food, we were getting ready to go home with well child. I cannot and can never thank everyone who works there enough.

The food was pretty basic, but I could pop up to the concourse and buy food/takeaways. I guess it is different if your child has a chronic condition, but for us the fact we even noticed food was a signal it was time to leave!

Food in hospital is not a big deal to me, it is way below medical expertise, equipment, cleanliness, professionalism and kindness, all of which we experienced by the bucket load.

Yip I completely get the argument of not caring about food when the hospital saved a child. What I hope your child is well now.

I think my massive gripe was the way the hospital treated my child around the food intolerance issue.

Commenting on this tired has actually given me the courage to make a complaint to Edinburgh sick kids as I had previously been so angry about it

So sausages, baked beans and deep fried battered stuff
are plain and easy to digest? I find this thread so odd.

Does anyone know if hospital meals have to meet some standards and if so are the standards for adults different to those for children? People's experiences seem to vary enormously.

Helensburgh : I think you should make a complaint because it might encourage changes which will prevent further children from having to suffer the same as your child.
They can change the rules because the 5 hospitals my son have stayed in have been very accommodating of me bringing food in from home. The comment they made about take aways having hygeine certificates is nonsense because you were only feeding your own child and were not asking them to heat the food. All hospitals will refuse to heat food from home but there is no reason why you can't bring it in already hot in a flask.
You have good reason to make a complaint.

I spent a night in hospital with ds. The food arrived along the lines of
6x burger in a bun
12 x curry
12 x jacket potato and tuna (tuna already on so not able to have plain potato)
12 x cream cheese and salmon salad

Back to the kitchen went
11 x curry
9 x jacket potatoes and tuna
10 x cream cheese and salmon salad (and I'm sure I saw one of the parents eating one of those)

And down to the cafe/restaurant went about 2 dozen parents to get chicken nuggets and chips/fish fingers and chips/hot dogs etc. so their children would eat something.
Nurses were sighing and saying they wished they would send more of that sort of food for the children, but the hospital was determined they would have "healthy meals" Problem was, most of the children did not feel like eating anything, so getting them to eat unfamiliar or not easy foods was not really on the cards.

thinking more about it, the edibility is more of an issue than choice.
reheated foods are often not very appetising esp when they are battered/fried.