Im a regular patient in my trusts hospitals so here is about 3 of them,
One - The general one nearest me which most of my drs aren’t at – has really strange menus, the best thing for lunch or tea is salad but can end up salad’ed out
Two - The area one where all my consultants are based most of the time has brilliant menus and food,
the breakfasts are standard, toast with butter pats and jam/ marmalade, tea/coffee and orange juice if wanted, choice of cereal from Weetabix, bran flakes, rice krispies or cornflakes.
Lunch and Tea menus are almost the same, the lunch menu if you are admitted before 6am you end up filling in a lunch menu “just in case” still there for later that day. If still there by 11am you fill in a tea menu.
The choices start with choice of soup out of 3 (vegetable, cream of chicken, leek and potato) ,
Salads out of a selection of 3 (plain. Ham or tuna).
Light lunches out of a selection of 4/5 (scrambled egg on toast, beans on toast, baked potato and another 1 or 2 light things possibly
sandwiches but Im not sure
Currys – Chicken, Vegetable or Beef
Then down to the hot main components of meals where there is about 10 options beefburger, lasagne, veggie lasagne, roast beef in gravy, sausages and more.
The fish section has cod in cheese sauce, poached salmon and something else.
Then there are options for cold sides like beetroot or coleslaw,
hot sides like mashed potato, rice, various vegetables separate or in combos.
Then the important sections the dessert section cold desserts like jelly, cold custard pots, ice cream, kit kats and other stuff
Then hot desserts including rice pudding, apple or rhubarb crumble with hot custard and more
Then choice of fruit for snacks – apple, orange, banana or kiwi
Then there is the puree section to tick for those who need it
A box to tick for those who need assistance so it can be noted discreetly as when needed ive got an extra napkin on tray in a different colour to identify the need
The ONLY difference between the lunch and tea menu is the tea menu has chips the lunch one doesn’t.
We can tick from as many sections as liked, and there are little letters in brackets at each thing to tell what is high sugar, fat, gluten free, low fat, low sugar etc
Ive had lovely curry with chips and rice many times, followed by 2 tubs of ice cream.
As meals are being served someone else comes around with the trolley with milk (its ice cold) and encouraged to take several cups if you like or your water jug refilled etc.
If needed to get other drinks, the hospital trolley does a daily round so have a chance then
Mealtimes are protected visiting so unless your family member is helping you to eat they will be asked to go and unless vitally urgent no Drs will come around either as you need time to eat and enjoy your food.
The breakfast is approx. 8-9am, lunch 11.30-12.30pm and tea time is 4.30pm-5.30pm so while the time the trolleys might come to the ward is within that hour its not exact.
However there are tea/coffee/milk with a biscuit rounds mid morning, just before afternoon visiting (after 90 mins sleepy time) and again at around 8.30pm.
The 3rd one is the psych ward which is based on the grounds of the 2nd hospital but is self contained and they have a cook who comes onto the ward kitchen each day and does a selection of 3 home cooked meals to suit most appetites, weekends were always the best as loads of chips, chicken kievs, pizza all the sort of stuff not available during the week. Each ward holds 20 as a maximum and has own cook, there is biscuits and dilute / tea / coffee available till 10pm each night, The biscuits and cakes are all baked in ward kitchen.
@ZispinAndChai love the username btw, we don’t get access to a kitchen but there is enough in each mealtime for everyone as there is always a shout for seconds and sometimes thirds and even of the really nice stuff that everyone wants so there is usually a rush
And we can keep snack foods in our rooms, if need to go to vending machine in the main section of the unit depends on if allowed off ward if not, you pay the money you want to spend to the nurses station cash box and they take it into change for you and when going on breaks will get whatever from vending machine as they pass it en route to their break room which they share with the other wards. It means they literally have the change ready for what you want and keeps everything right.
Or before they tightened up on rules, they used to allow a take away delivery on a Friday night but some body abused that and ordered drugs which were smuggled in with it. (not cool)