To expect that a hospital should be able to meet my dietary needs?

[Balloonsandroses]

Pretty sure I’m not being unreasonable! Been in hospital 24 hours now and just been to eat a meal for the first time (my choice). There is nothing gluten free. I have coeliac disease which they’ve known since admission. Gluten makes me vomit. So I can literally eat pepper, cucumber and lettuce. To add insult to injury this is a psych ward and I was admitted under section (still furious about this) so I can’t even leave and go and buy some food.

@Viviennemary do you understand that the op is there against her will and has a medical need that means she will be physically unwell if she is not catered for. She is not allowed to leave the ward at all. She’s locked in.

Not to mention the context of feeling unsafe and questioning the motive and safety of the food because of her mental state. That’s not someone saying they don’t think the food is of a high enough standard it’s basic care. I’m not sure if you don’t understand what being under section entails or if all the intolerances people have become aware of have led to people not understanding what coeliac means. Did you appreciate this? I agree that often people have unrealistic expectations of an overstretched system and the mental health system is on its knees and providing very little until people are in absolute crisis but this isn’t nuanced.

this sort of attitude of acceptance of poor care is why the NHS in its current form has struggled on for many years without the government ever being prepared to think why many of our health outcomes (cancer care being a particular one) are so poor in comparison to other systems in europe. Its not just now, this sort of situation has occurred at many points over my NHS career but the current government are just appearing to run the whole system into the ground until we ourselves demand change loudly enough. I hate to say it but even I now want an insurance based system if it means people get acceptable care. If people think its not important to appropriately feed people with coelic, crohns ,diabetes, kidney disease plus all the other conditions that require a special diet to avoid damaging their health(& creating more work for the NHS!) then that explains why people consistently have voted tory for the last x years. Healthy body healthy mind!

People go on about Wheat and not being able to eat it when Coeliac. Wheat isn't the only food with Gluten in, it's also Barley and Rye (and Oats if not labeled as Gluten fee oats). So just getting someone food with no wheat isn't being gluten free.
I really hope you are doing ok OP and manage to get some decent food in you. Get well and get home soon.

People just don’t realise though, so they?

I’ve had family members say “but there is no gluten on the list of ingredients!” on bread!

Stock cubes are the big one for me. I once had someone go to the trouble of making me a beef strew, they even bought new silicone chopping boards to chop the food on so it would be contaminated from their chopping board, listed the ingredients to me but didn’t realise the stock cubes had wheat in.

I know, right?

I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 40 a few years ago, and I often get asked if I am “still on my diet”.

Then I have friends who are gluten free “80 percent of the time” as they feel that wheat sometimes bloats them. Yeah, then they are back on it the 20% of the time when they can’t be arsed, it’s inconvenient or they don’t want it spend £££ on special food.

No body would chose to be coeliac - it’s a pain in the arse.

I am lactose intolerant. If I want dairy at home, then I can take lactaid. That isn't an option in hospital - and the idea of explosive poo when sick is not appealing. But there are virtually no dairy free options when I've needed to be in. A good vegan option would save this worry, as I'd know it doesn't have dairy in it and could eat without having my entire digestive system revolt.

Being able to have healthy food that isn't going to make you violently sick whilst in hospital isn't some crazy ask. It should be standard.

Also echoing someone earlier who mentioned the lack of options for diabetics. I was in and out of hospital with complications during pregnancy a few years ago. One complication was gestation diabetes. Everything was sugary or simple carbs. Which I couldn't eat.

That is disgusting and disgraceful

I think people need to realise that the nhs is not free. We pay for it out of taxes. Some of us pay really quite a lot. So it’s absolutely should be better than that.

A relative was admitted a few years ago as an emergency due to medical negligence. She has always been very slim but the condition which instigated the original procedure had caused her to lose weight. The negligence caused further weight loss so, by the time she was admitted, she was very underweight. As her treatment involved different specialties, she was admitted to one site but also received treatment at another.

During her admission she would be sent before breakfast to an appointment at the second site and kept there long after lunch time, so would miss two meals. When she returned she was told that, as she hadn’t ordered any food, she’d also get no dinner. The hospital provided no food whatsoever for a patient already underweight as a result of medical negligence!

Luckily she had family who were able to bring food, as she was unable to get anything for herself, not that she’d get much more than vending machine crap anyway as the cafeteria closes right after lunch. Unfortunately not everyone has someone to bring food for them and I can’t imagine the suffering those people must experience while receiving ‘care’.

The OP has another thread as well, please be gentle she is really suffering from her mental health and is extremely stressed and agitated.

Although I agree some people's expectations are too high, we haven't quite reached the point surely where people genuinely believe that someone who has been sectioned (ergo cannot go out and get their own food) should not have any food because of a medical condition. People often ask what the evidence will be of the NHS collapsing, i feel like this might be that point if people think this way.

Hope you're doing okay OP.

When I was in a psych hospital, all the food I ate was my own.
Slightly different circumstances in that I had an eating disorder (wasn't in ED unit) and severe ocd around food. Couldn't eat anything someone else had touched/made. My husband brought all my own food which I prepared myself.
I found them pretty flexible around things like that.

@Jo586

as opposed to daft carnivore diet?

@Jo586

and you could deffo argue that’s it’s daft to kill and eat animals when there are so many alternative food stuffs so readily available

How are you getting on today @Balloonsandroses - have you had some lunch?

Gosh this thread really has been eye opening as to how uneducated some people are - and also the fact that people think we should just accept any old crap service even if it makes us sicker, from a system that is NOT free (as someone else pointed out). Hope you’re ok OP.

Nah its not. Vegans lack in a lot of things. Are quite unhealthy. People will always eat meat and vegans needs to get over that.

What bs have I just read. I'm a meat eater and definitely not obese. And eat enough fruit and veg. You can't just tar them all in the same brush.

Hope you're okay and shocking the hospital are treating you that way. Hope you get some food soon x

I'm really shocked at the attitude of the NHS (and some on this thread) that it is OK to give people food that will make them ill! What is the sense in the current times of worsening medical conditions and in many cases causing longer hospital stays when beds are scarce?

Last time I was in hospital was in Sweden and they took this stuff very seriously. There were multiple different meals and the kitchen was responsible for checking them against dietary requirements. All of the food came labelled for each specific patient. At one lunchtime there were 6 different meals for the 10 patients on my section of the ward. So when I was eating the standard, IKEA style, meatballs, mash and peas - my gluten-free, onion free roommate was eating poached salmon, new potatoes and salad. There was also a patient pantry and fridge with stuff for you to make your own snacks and drinks with boxes with specific allergy items for those admitted to the ward plus a separate fridge with labelled boxes for those that wanted their own food

my response was a play on the poster I was responding to who seemed to think every vegan lived off processed food and was lacking in every single nutrient. I was making the point that meat eater or vegan it’s possible to stuff your face with shit or eat a balanced, healthy diet.

If the NHS can't be bothered to feed coeliacs the right food whilst in their care for other illnesses and cause them physical harm as a result, it means the cost of treating their coeliac symptoms and damage increases as they have more extensive condition

YY @RedToothBrush Agree with your entire post. Its the NHS spending a thousand pounds to save a fiver again.

@Lunde Thats brilliant. Suggest the same thing for the NHS though and you would get comments like "its a hospital not a hotel"

To me it’s completely symbolic of the god complex that runs throughout the NHS. The staff always think they know best. They never listen to the patient, the NHS is all about sticking plasters rather than actual care. Most of the time they seem to forget they’re actually dealing with people.

Tbf I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the 80% people either. I have IBS and loads of food (dairy, fruit, pulses, possibly wheat) give me bloating and really disgusting farts. I try to avoid it but if I’m going out for dinner or round a friend’s house (or I’m staying home the next day) I eat it, because it’s not the end of the world. Likewise if I’m really craving cheesecake or something. It makes me feel rubbish but not pain/diarrhea/vomit/bed for 3 days rubbish, so if the food’s really nice I’ll just have it. Still nice when I can get the right food!

I just find it incredibly irritating when I am out with a friend who does this.

I have to scrutinise everything and sometimes, don’t bother after some really bad experiences.

And then she can order whatever she likes with no issues (the people I taking about don’t feel rubbish, they just don’t want to feel a bit bloated and fat if you see what I mean. Like, they wouldn’t dream of eating GF pasta or bread, because it’s awful on the whole. Which makes it feel like a kick in the teeth.