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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to like hospital food?

151 replies

JustAnotherUserinParadise · 12/02/2021 08:32

Lighthearted obviously!

I recently had to spend the day in hospital twice due to finding out my baby is breech at 38 weeks, and trying to turn it with an ecv (twice).

I've always heard jokes etc about how terrible hospital food is, but having had both lunch and dinner both times, aibu to really like it?? I mean I know it's not brilliant, but I find something about simple, low-quality stodge quite comforting!
Maybe it's just because it reminds me of school dinners! That was certainly the last time I ate a plain cream cracker with cheddar haha! And having to fish the lumps of fat out of my steak pie... Sigh!

OP posts:
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AtleastitsnotMonday · 13/02/2021 17:23

I had a 3 month stint in hospital a while back and the food was so depressing. It was all tepid, grey and had a weird powder like texture. The worst thing though was the crockery. Thick plastic plates and bowls which looked more like pet bowls and had a definite taste. Sago pudding in a dog bowl? I’m alright thanks.

Hahaha88 · 13/02/2021 17:50

The food at mine was fine, nothing fancy but warm, edible and filling. And really there's nothing as nice as someone cooking for you and cleaning up after!

garlicwhorl · 13/02/2021 17:55

I absolutely love hospital food. When I had my DC mealtimes were the highlight of my day! Small portions though.

Airline food is inedible IMO

Hollyhocksarenotmessy · 13/02/2021 18:36

I used to work at a private hospital. Not a swanky one, one providing specialist services for long term NHS patients.

God, I miss those lunches. All fresh ingredients beautifully cooked by proper chefs/cooks, 3 courses.i put on a wee bit of weight working there.

Flump9 · 13/02/2021 18:50

First Dc I was in hospital for a while but quite liked the food, second dc 8 years later in same hospital and it was disgusting. Luckily not in as long that time.

huggzy · 13/02/2021 18:52

There we're definitely some meals that I really enjoyed- and I'm quite fussy!

I spent a lot of time in hospital during my pregnancies and went long periods eating nothing. So when I could finally manage food it was like the best food I'd ever eaten! I remember enjoying the mashed potato, minced beef, macaroni cheese. Oh and little pots of ice cream or jelly.

Not the soup though, soup was awful.

HulaHoop2012 · 13/02/2021 18:58

I loved my nhs dinners when I had my second c-section (the first was awful)

Also got tea and biscuits in the morning and toast, butter, jam and a cuppa at around 8pm all in bed.

I really loved that bubble as I knew I was going back to a madhouse.

PumpkinPie2016 · 13/02/2021 19:03

Nooooo Envy

When I had DS I ended up staying in hospital for two nights as I had a c-section. The food was awful -I got family to bring things in for me. Even the cheese sandwich was terrible!

That said, I had to stay overnight with DS at Royal Manchester children's hospital in the summer and they provided food for me (and DS after his op) and I have to say, it was quite good there!

So, I suppose it must vary Grin

Babdoc · 13/02/2021 19:12

When I was a medical student back in the 1970’s, I did a ten week attachment at Mount Vernon hospital in Northwood. In those days, the doctors’ dining room was unbelievable - waitress service to your table, they wrote down what ingredients you wanted in your individually prepared salad, there were chef’s specials like fillet steak in cream sauce, stuffed marrows, and a whole vegetarian Indian buffet!
I had come from a teaching hospital in Scotland where the food was diabolical, so I was gobsmacked.

DenisetheMenace · 13/02/2021 19:18

I think it varies. Husband was in our nearest hospital AMU for 2 weeks, seriously sick people, food was awful (not that he was in a fit state to eat anyway but some were and were getting bugger all nutrition, which is vital for recovery, was brought in and reheated).
He was transferred to another specialist ward in a different hospital for recovery and spent nearly a month there, going through the menu twice. Completely different story. Everything prepared on site. Basic, nutritious food, every diet catered for (diverse area) and a consultant who recognised the importance of nourishment. Amazed me that they both fell within the same authority.

polexiaaphrodesia · 13/02/2021 19:26

Food was atrocious when I had DS, even the breakfast was inedible. DH was instructed to bring in food from M&S and bought me in a McChicken Sandwich on the second night. When I had DD, she was born at 11.30pm and other than the tea and toast there was no food until 8am the next morning and I'd left my bag of food in the car and sent DH home. All I had were sweets for labour so ate 2 packets of Percy Pigs overnight!

DwangelaForever · 13/02/2021 19:46

I LOVED hospital food lol I spent around 11 days in hospital on and off when I had my son and I loved every meal I got (loved the ordering system too)

Donoteatthekittens · 13/02/2021 20:06

I love institutional food. I had some time in hospital recently and the tea and toast is so good! I love how beans and mash are served with all the main courses.

When I was dating DH, I used to spend my weekends with him on his military base as he lived in. Breakfast in the wardroom was great. You selected whatever you for a cooked breakfast on a little paper menu and a steward served it to you with fresh coffee. And it was so cheap!

And airplane food too - yes! I used to be cabin crew and stuffed my face with business class food. As part of our crew meals we had pancakes with blueberry compote for breakfast. Mmmm.

Bellaphant · 13/02/2021 20:14

Food Is one thing my local does well. TBf when I was in giving birth to Ds I had baked potatoes, cheese, beans and coleslaw three meals in a row (which were amazing) but they are also super good at providing food at odd times: they let my partner stay on the ward, as I'd been in recovery after theatre til 4am, and made sure we had biscuits and tea in the middle of the night, as well as giving me extra breakfast so he could eat.

I went in more recently with my son to the children's ward, where they made sure I had tea, biscuits and a bag of fruit in a and e (again, late at night) and offered me a Sandwich, crisps and water when we got to the ward. We both got baked potatoes for lunch and they also offered me dinner. No breakfast, now I think about it!

JustAnotherUserinParadise · 13/02/2021 21:59

ooh @Donoteatthekittens yes Army food can be amazing! My brother is an officer and lived in barracks for a while, I stayed a night there once and the breakfast was unbelievable! And absolutely enormous! No wonder so many of them pile on the weight after they stop being forced to do physical exercise...

OP posts:
georgarina · 13/02/2021 22:13

I love it haha. There's something exciting about filling in the form and getting the tray lol.

Norwayreally · 13/02/2021 22:18

This was one of my meals in hospital last year when I was readmitted due to c-section complications. Probably the better of the meals I had, some were inedible. Thank god DH brought me food... so yeah, YABU!

AIBU to like hospital food?
garlicwhorl · 13/02/2021 22:52

@Norwayreally

This was one of my meals in hospital last year when I was readmitted due to c-section complications. Probably the better of the meals I had, some were inedible. Thank god DH brought me food... so yeah, YABU!
What are we meant to be put off by? the overdone potato? It’s just the skin, it’ll be the same inside Confused
ultrablue · 13/02/2021 23:00

[quote JustAnotherUserinParadise]@Babdoc Envy that's really grim! I think the home baking in my grandad's care home contribution to his weight gain haha![/quote]
I know the home baking in my late Moms care home contributed to my weight gain Grin

It was constant food food food there and that was just the visitors Smile

One of the lovely things there though was when elderly husbands and wives were visiting the residents, the staff used to give them a hot meal aswell to ensure that they were eating properly too.

Sheleg · 13/02/2021 23:06

I was in hospital for a total of a week, having DD. The food was proper good! School dinner puddings with custard were the highlight.

ultrablue · 14/02/2021 00:23

I love hospital food, the food at my local hospital is excellent, when my late Mom was in a couple of years ago, she wouldn't eat the food so I happily are it for her, plus the staff used to sneak me and my sister our own puddings, sandwiches whatever as well as what seemed like an hourly tea run with biccies.

I had 3 DC at the same hospital with both my 2DD's I was in for three days before giving birth and also had two day gynae surgeries there where I ended up staying three days both times, all those lovely meals, cups of tea and biscuits and a lovely hot chocolate and cake at 10pm. The only problem I ever had with food was when one of the staff put the salad in the food warmer,. I had never wanted a salad so much that day.

During the last few months of my Dad's life I spent a lot with him in majors/resus due to side affects with his radiotherapy and it was non stop tea from the machine and the paramedics showing us where their stash of biscuits were if we wanted them Grin

AMC dept is the same there, I was there the year before last, unlimited tea, coffee, biscuits etc and two lots of prepacked sandwiches, I was only in there 8 hours.Grin. Hmm thinking about it I'm beginning to think the staff at that hospital are feeders haha.

My last surgery was at a private hospital day case, so just an amazing prawn sandwich with side salad and black coffee, when finished the nurse cleared and asked if I wanted another coffee, I said please and she came back with enormous cafetierre. I was gutted that that one turned out to just be a day case as my Aunt had stayed there previously and it was 3 courses and wine every meal..

IME hospital food is fantastic, now don't get me started on care home food, that's fab too.

Babdoc · 14/02/2021 09:25

My hospital used to have vile food. (It has improved dramatically since).
The canteen used to send a large “dustbin” full of soup to our operating theatre suite as we couldn’t get out for lunch. It usually resembled wallpaper paste, but one day we got a fabulous chicken and sweetcorn chowder.
Excited, and desperate to encourage more of this, we phoned the catering manager to praise the soup.
He angrily demanded if we were taking the piss - he’d sent the usual slop. No no, we insisted, it had been a fab chowder.
He shrieked in horror. And told us that had been meant for the NHS managers upstairs in the board room.
So presumably, they’d got our wallpaper paste.... Grin

user1471538283 · 14/02/2021 09:47

The last time I was in hospital I absolutely loved the food! I will eat pretty much anything but honestly it was great! No cooking, no clearing up and a choice! My DF had me out in day release on the Sunday and made me a huge roast dinner. I then went back for 6pm tea and pudding!

When a relative was in she didn't mind the food but it got monotonous and it wasnt that tasty so I used to take her fish and chips once a week as a treat

SimonJT · 14/02/2021 11:53

When I have been in hospital the food has been awful.

I’m a type one diabetic, I’m also a vegetarian and I have a severe kiwi allergy.

When I have been in breakfast has always been white toast with jam, brilliant for diabetes!

Lunch was always a sandwich on white bread with a small orange juice as your starter, the vegetarian sandwich was lettuce and tomato which was so soggy the bread would be stuck to the plate 🤢 also another great meal for a diabetic!

Dinner had a menu, vegetables only featured in the form of mushy peas, so no matter what you ordered you didn’t even get one of your five day, nevermind fibre. Why are doctors obsessed with going for a poo yet hospital foods main purpose is to stop you ever pooing again. Dinner was always interesting, what you ordered was never actually delivered. I did get excited about a mixed bean chilli as it meant actual fibre and there may be a flavour beyond warm slime, what actually turned up was beans on toast with a dollop of soured cream.

I ordered in takeaways and had a friend bring in food, if I hadn’t there would have been multiple days where I had eaten nothing but white bread.

I had a short stay due to covid a little while ago, I refused to leave the flat until I had a carrier bag of food.

rockingthelook · 14/02/2021 22:02

I work in our local NHS hospital, the food in the staff canteen
is the same as what is served to the patients and is very nice. All cooked fresh and has the breakdown of allergens on the menu. Prior to lockdown lots of locals used to come for the fish and chips on Fridays and also the sunday lunches. The Christmas lunch is that popular there are huge queues, homemade scones better than the garden centres, and cheaper, don't get me started on the apple pie and sponge puddings!

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