The new(?) cafe at Royal Berks- are they mad?

[JellySlice]

A simple cookie costs £1.40, a muffin costs £2.50, a slice of cake costs £2.90 and a sandwich costs from £4.30. A mug of hot chocolate costs upwards of £3.00.

Am I out of touch? Are these reasonable prices? This isn't a cosy cafe with squashy sofas in the window and free newspapers. It's a busy corridor in Outpatients.

It might sound pricey but doesn’t seem unusual to me.

You're out of touch I'm afraid, they're very pricey

That sounds like standard prices, particularly for places with a near captive audience like hospitals and service stations

I spend alot of time in the berks, john radcliffe and other local ones.
Its on par eith the others.
If your not stuck or are with someone go to the co-op down the road

Its called captive audience prices if you have to wait for quite a while they hope you will go and get either a drink or something to snack on, and being as your not going to leave the hospital to do this you will cough up what they ask price wise

It probably does seem pricey for a hospital cafe but is in-line with similar establishments. They will have to contend with the same increase in costs from suppliers and staff wages as any other cafe. Hopefully some of the profit will get ploughed back into providing better hospital meals for patients.

its a hospital offering up a diet of sugar and fat?

Hopefully some of the profit will get ploughed back into providing better hospital meals for patients.

I sincerely hope so. I was perfectly happy with the Friends' cafe that was here before (though the tea was, admittedly, rank), but I imagine it didn't generate a huge income.

Captive audience - yeees. Just seems deeply unfair, considering they this captive audience will not, for the most part, have chosen to be captivated.

Hospital shop prices are ripoff central.

There's that, too, RedRed. It's all iced cakes and sandwiches.

14 years ago my DD was hospitalised at RBH and a cup of coffee. At the coffee shop was £2.30 then so prices haven't really risen.

Yes my local hospital is like that. Now the main one has a Costa. It's all but impossible to find anything healthy for visitors/if coming to clinic appointments. There is a shop with very expensive toys, newspapers and some sorry looking fruit. Touch wood recently I've only been admitted overnight so I don't know what patient food is really like, I went for sandwiches and toast.

Sounds like standard prices for cafes around here - East Midlands.

And they don't even sell a comforting bar of chocolate. Would I have to go all the way up to the M&S for that?

Our hospital café prices are really cheap, but it's still run by the (cant remember the name) Scottish/Royal voluntary woman's institute services

My local hospital used to have a volunteer run cafe with sandwichs, etc and hot drinks at reasonable prices. It’s now been taken over by a private coffee shop. Any profits go back into the private firm, not the hospital. However the firm do pay the hospital an annual fee for the floor space. Hospital obviously thought it was worth it for the money they get paid. But staff and patients are unhappy about the now more expensive food and drinks.