Hospital food: AIBU?

[IrenetheQuaint]

My 75-year-old father is in hospital - one of the best hospitals in the country - with unexplained breathing difficulties. He is not at all fussy and will generally eat anything put in front of him... but he finds the hospital food disgusting to the point of being almost inedible. I was briefly in the same hospital 15 years ago and found the same thing.

There are a few shops and cafes in the entrance bit but he is on oxygen and can't get to them. Fortunately my brother lives nearby and has managed to bring him some food in (I live 2 hours away and have a stinking cold so can't get there myself). But what about people who have no families nearby, or who can't afford to go to M&S etc two or three times a day?

How can the medical care be so good but the food so bad? If airlines can supply basic but perfectly edible food in complicated circumstances then why can't hospitals?? Good healthy food is an essential part of recovery from illness... it's appalling that the NHS can't supply this (or at least, not at this large and internationally respected hospital).

I know it costs money, but couldn't they bring in a scheme where patients contributed to food costs, with subsidies for those who can't afford it. Even a voluntary donation of £5 per person per day would surely enable a massive improvement in the service? I can't believe other Western countries are so rubbish in this respect?

My daughter was in a children's hospital for months and the food was totally appalling - mostly beige food, pizza and chips available every day, uninspiring vegetables. Very little in the way of nutritious food. I was spending a fortune in the supermarket to supplement her food.

Lol yes, the hospital that couldn't provide plain pasta. Thank god for my immunology consultant (who is shit hot in every way) and being able to eat relatively normally now. We sat and chatted about veganism last appointment, as he is too. Went vegan because it was easier and safer to stick to that when out, and it kind of grew on me.

I was very ill in hospital last year, when I was finally able to eat I thought the food was nice

There was nothing I couldn't' eat apart from salmon (don't like fish) and believe me I am an incredibly fussy eater

I was in a London hospital once where they managed to serve fish for three out of four meals, now I like fish , but omg the ward stank like billingsgate in a heatwave. One woman got her husband to bring her a whole cooked chicken that she kept in her locker.

A friend was In the london clinic recently, now their food looked, smelled and tasted amazing, and was beautifully presented as well.

My friend that was in hospital said she craved fresh food. She didn't tell me but I went to visit and brought some cold drinks and fresh fruit packets etc - she was pleased to have an icy cold drink!

I remember being in as a kid and they gave me weetabix in a bowl (dry) and one of those tiny plastic cups of milk. You could drink the milk and eat the dry weetabix or have the milk on it but no extra drink available

How would you police the charging idea though?

I spent a week in hospital earlier this year. First few days on HDU. Last part of the stay on a ward. The whole time I was on HDU I ate a banana. The whole time I was on the ward I ate a quarter of a cheese sandwich. I'm a big girl but I was eating very little that they started to give me the build up shakes. Do those who eat less get discounts? And those who eat more get charged more? I remember a woman in one bed constantly bloody eating eating all manner of snacks, crisps chocolate sweets fizzy pop the lot in between eating all her meals. Then telling the doctor when he came round that she felt sick. Can't think why!

Having been in hopsital 3 times in the past two years I am lucky to have been here. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/tbjrn6jYkBrjQPG24Q4yzH/weekly-menu

The food was edible, in a large catering style of food. Not high end restaurants but not something to remind you of your school day dinners! (Although am a teacher and ours are now pretty good!)

On one ward I had to go and get meals on the other it was delivered to me. All ordered etc.

I was in hospital for a week after a major abdominal operation. 8 hours under general anaesthetic, and when they pulled the tube out, they damaged my throat.

12 hours after I woke up, the nurse gave me a plate of congealing stew. I was really hungry (hadn't eaten for @36 hours) but it was inedible. Asked for toast - no toast. No fruit the entire week. My throat was so sore and they wouldn't give me ice or ice-cream, or jelly - or basically anything I might have been able to swallow.

I was lucky - family visited after three days, and brought me food. It was horrible.

*a horrible experience, not that the food my family brought was horrible!
(typing with one hand from under a blanket of kittens)

Food seemed fine in my hospital. Lot of meat and veg and gravy dinners, nothing fancy but all eadible and fine. Not enough fruit mind.

Should say also in Wales

*edible

I've been in a few hospitals in London for varying lengths of time and the ones I've been in the food has been good. Not amazing. But absolutely fine and good sized portions.

I find it unacceptable that other hospitals can't do this because these are massive hospitals in the capital so it must be possible to do!

YANBU
this was a 'meal' my dad was given when in hospital this year. I took the photo as it looked so unappetising. He had no appetite after surgery and this didn't really help!
can you guess what it is??

Ha if I spent £5 per person on food my weekly food bill would be £315 ,not less than £100.
Also many hospital admissions are emergencies when the food budget has already been spent.
People's jsa etc can be stopped whilst in hospital etc.

Very beige lavender , is it omelette and mash?

Pink children's food is Pizza etc as it's better for kids to eat something than nothing.

When ds1 was little he had a nut allergy so they wouldn't cater for him. I'm coeliac so they won't cater for me. Even not very nice food would be an improvement tbh

Littlest DS is about to have surgery. The nurse at his pre-op appointment advised me to bring in food for him as they won't discharge him until he has been eating but kids rarely eat the food the hospital provides apparently. Great.

When I had DS2 I thought I was all knowledgeable about the hospital food. Its fine if you choose something that can be repeatedly microwave without significantly spoiling. So pasta was a good choice. I learnt this with postnatal stay with DS1. Instead they just repeatedly didn't feed me at all, which Im sure helped lengthen my hospital stay. Unfortunately DH couldn't be with me that much as he had to look after DS1.

I've only been in as a maternity patient and found portion size woefully inadequate. The cook chill meals tasted fine in a mass produced way and there was choice.

Lunch which I'd estimate at 500 calories was the hot meal of the day. Tea at 5 was morkish white bread sandwiches, about 300 calories to then last 15 hours through all nighters trying to get a new baby breastfeeding until toast and cereal for breakfast so another 300 calories. 1200 calories in total, 50% of what you need missing. That's not encouraging healing from CSs or development of milk supply.

Most of my nutrition had to come from snacks brought in, which isn't ideal for a balanced diet.

I had a false alarm with DS2's birth. I was admitted shortly after breakfast at home. They then said I had to be nil by mouth on the spurious chance I might need a CS, despite the contractions fading away, so missed lunch. I had to ask to be allowed tea when it was quite clear that I was not in labour but they still insisted on keeping me in overnight. Tea ended up being a handful of grated cheese because I couldn't chew through the white bap. Heavily pregnant and 24 hours on a barely edible sandwich

It is wrong that it becomes a lottery of who can be nourished by visitors and who is neglected, and has a delayed recovery.

Food was nice when I was in last year for a week. In fact it was the highlight of the day for me. It was canteen food but really tasty. I was asked by midwives about it and they were surprised I liked it so much as they often hear bad things. I honestly could not fault it at all. But then I don't find the mash and pie picture above unappetising, though it could do with some veg. Might be I'm an oddball.

I think actually the standard is good. It's not going to match what we are used to going out to eat and it won't be made to order. It's more likely made offsite, delivered in foil containers and reheated in the kitchens. That's reality I should think for most hospitals.

If they had less management (52% staff in the NHS are managers, which leaves just 48% doing the actual care/cleaning/cooking) then the food would improve. Also, the management staff are on very high wages compared to the nurses/kitchen staff/cleaners etc. They are on high bands even without a degree (I know this as 4 people I know work in NHS management roles with very little experience in health and no degrees on band e whilst my very well trained family members are on similar bands after nursing/radiography degrees and continual on the job training).

Our local hospital food seems to be dire/delicious depending entirely on your age!

So, my grandmothers (80's/90's) have both in the last year spent several weeks in hospital. Both of them found the food good. But then both of them like very traditional British food - chicken casserole, mashed potatoes, sausages, over cooked veg, rice pudding etc. Also, from what I know of them eating at home the portions were about right and they didn't complain - obviously we took biscuits/cake in for them when we visited but they didn't eat any more of either than they would normally. Their only complaint was that a cold breakfast was at 8:30, the hot meal was lunch at 12:30 and then they had a "packed dinner" delivered around17:00. Which meant that they went about 15 hours without food - which they both said left them really hungry.

However, I (early 30s) and my friends have a very different view. Over the same amount of time a number of friends have been in for birth/ops/children and every single one has condemned the food. Firstly, the portions are very small - as PP mentioned about 1200 calories a day, the menu very basic (breakfast - wheetabix, corn flakes or rice crispies with milk, many wards don't have toasters so no toast available! No fruit, croissants, etc. And nothing to drink until the tea trolley comes round about an hour later), lunch very bland (one rubbery meat option with mashed potato, whether it makes sense or not..., one vegetarian option with mashed potato - normally rotated between cheese omelette cauliflower cheese - and two/three jackets, soup, simple desert), dinner (four rock hard sandwich options - more cheese for veggies - a piece of bruised and brown fruit, a warm yoghurt and a cheap carton of juice). None of these Asian, diet friendly or vegetarian menus some have mentioned previously! The only thing we agree on is the ridiculous length of time between dinner and breakfast!

I understand that many of the hospital's patients are very elderly so, I suppose the menu reflects that. But, I do worry that food hasn't changed in hospitals much in my 30 years experience. My parents both condem the food too, and they're in their 60s ... clearly the menus (at least localy) can only suit the majority for a short while longer. When will the food change? My guess is never - it'd be too expensive and too much effort.

The extra thing that annoys me is our hospital trust still has kitchens! And last year the executive chef won a prestigious award for his cooking!

This was my first meal when I went in to be induced with DS.

They came to start monitoring as food was brought, so it sat for an hour before I could eat it. When I could it was disgusting.

The soup was in theory tomato. Worse it was provided by a company I work for. I can only assume it was made too dilute as was inedible, no taste of tomato at all, and I know the product intimately.

The budget is just not large enough and meal times not protected.

Once baby was born you were required to go to a dining room to eat. To do that baby had to go in cot, everytime I put him in he screamed, he was also cluster feeding.

Food was rarely want was actually asked for.

In the eve I refused to order anything for it to be wasted. DH was making me packed lunches at home and bringing them in for both of us, and pizza from hospital canteen in evening.

There needs to be more money spent and time spent thinking about patients actually having opportunity to eat.

I was in hospital for 5 days recently, so ate a few meals. Tbh I thought it was fine, had about 8 choices of main course or a jacket potato or sandwich if preferred.

I quite enjoyed most of them. Sounds like in varies a lot by area though.