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.

There’s no issue with eating beef with heart disease - nutritional knowledge and advice has moved on, doctors are now prescribing a carnivore diet because it is healing. Heart disease is not caused by meat or fat.

@x2boys in the States, some commonly used drugs are kept on the hospital wards, but the pharmacy is available at all times. Doctors would call downstairs, but now it’s probably all on computers.

YADNBU
You have a legitimate HEALTH-related dietary requirement. They need to provide suitable food. Coeliac is not that unusual. This is not a chosen dietary choice like, for example, I don't like fish or someone may be vegetarian.

It's a ridiculous problem for medical food issues. I had gestational diabetes with my daughter and was in hospital for 5 days before she was born, ONE meal was diabetes friendly and even then only just as i could tolerate 1 slice of wholemeal toast.
I'm also pregnant again and likely to need a few days stay again (few risk factors) and have gestational diabetes again - can't tolerate many tomatoes, carrots, peas, bread, potatoes or beans of any kind. Oh and few fruit too!
There wasn't any access to a fridge last time and presumably the same now, so will just have to ask husband to bring in a cool bag of cheese and ham every day!

Being a vegan is a lifestyle choice not a dietary requirement. You won't be made ill if you eat a tiny bit of butter so not really the same. Just saying....... (await the vegan activist onslaught)

Makes me wonder why they bother training and employing dietitians, at great expense when they can’t even get these simple things right!

I understand and I'm sorry. My elderly father is diabetic and we manage it at home with diet. Low carbohydrates spread throughout the day, no processed sugar, etc. At the hospital they were giving him potatoes, bread, whole milk, pie, etc. When his blood sugar shot up and he was vomiting, they just gave him shots of insulin. It's very frustrating to de with that in addition to the issue that put you in hospital.

Those with a milk allergy or lactose intolerance really will be harmed by a bit of butter though.

If they have to provide dairy free options for those with allergies (like little packs of margarine not butter) then there's no reason not to provide them to a vegan.

I've worked in catering. This sort of thing is really fucking basic tbh, it shouldn't be a big deal.

The trickiest customers to serve, however, are those with a combination of dietary requirements - coeliac, vegan and allergic to rapeseed oil for instance was one that I came across before. They do sometimes require some extra thought and potentially a separate meal cooked for them.

Do u know what celiacs disease is? pure ignorance like this really grinds my gears. You are not unreasonable Op I'm constantly surprised by the lack of gluten free provision but you would have thought hospitals would be obliged to cater for allergys.

This must be a horrible time for you and your family. I hope you are over the worst of it and your meds and food get sorted. When I first read your post I thought you were being a bit unreasonable but I’m not so sure now. Celiac disease is common nowadays and they should have been able to put something together that u could eat. And it can’t be good for you not being able to take your prescribed meds. Try and stay as calm as possible, just keep telling yourself it will pass.

I agree completely. I suffer with an intolerance to lactose. Gives me violent diahorrea. That is a dietary requirement. My point was that CHOOSING to be a vegan is a choice, not a requirement and the already stretched NHS has frankly bigger problems then giving a vegan beans with butter in. Choosing to be vegan because it suits your dietary needs is a different story. Their was no mention of this

@Workinghardeveryday “I was literally starved. When I was admitted I was 8.4. When I left I was 5.6. 5.6!!!! This was nhs.”

Leaving aside that a hospital should provide the medically required food options, why did your family allow that dangerous amount of weight loss to happen? Why weren’t they bringing you the food you could eat? Were you in hospital because there were too many things you couldn’t eat that no-one could provide the required nutrition?

OK @Mrselton1981 what about the vegetarian activist onslaught…
If you haven’t eaten meat, fish etc. for long enough the texture of it may simply be abhorrent to you.
I was admitted once for video telemetry (for anyone who has never had the pleasure you remain in a room, on video, with an ambulatory EEG wired up to you. If you have a seizure they can compare the EEG with the video. The whole thing hinges on you staying in the room.
I was told the hospital couldn’t cater for a vegetarian diet as the kitchens were being refurbished. But I could go to the staff canteen.
So twice a day I went down to the staff canteen. I scared a couple of kids on way with the wires. Got talking to a few members of staff from neurology - ‘oh video telemetry? How is it going?’ and trudged back with my meal.
Yes, I could have taken the meat option…it wouldn’t have killed me. But why do you think people make and stick to such dietary choices in the first place? Taste, ethics, health reasons, religious convictions, concerns about animal welfare, the use of antibiotics and hormones in livestock - the reasons for choosing a vegetarian or vegan diet are just as valid as any other non-medical diet.
Why should people go back on dietary choices made for valid and conscious reasons simply because they aren’t choosing that diet to manage a medical condition.

The commenter was complaining about butter in beans not being force fed fillet steak. With how the nhs is struggling I'd be glad to get fed

OP has a medical need, she has coeliac. This is terrible for her

I was referring to dietary choices, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian etc. that do not necessarily relate to medical conditions and why we make them and why we stick with them.
I don’t recall mentioning anything about force feeding anyone fillet steak, you raised that point @Bitfatbitknackered
Interesting treatment regimen. My dog might go for it, but I don’t know about force feeding.

That’s so out of order considering your condition surely they should be able to offer something!

She has coeliac disease which is a serious autoimmune disease, not a choice! No different to diabetics needing a different diet. Would you deny them?
Who needs it more? Someone who can just go to the canteen for something or get a carry-out nearby brought in? Or someone who requires a special diet and can’t just eat from a takeaway but needs special food prepared in a safe environment?

Eating is a fairly basic need.

All the OP is asking for is food she can eat.

Ask for a referral to an IMHA if you don't already have one so someone can advocate for you!

The hospital I was in is over an hour away. I had an 18 year month old, no family around to help. Now x husband has to stay home with dd after he finished work.

I was only weighed on admission and the day I left.

I do have a diet I need to follow, but I can eat all meat and fish, all well cooked root veg. No sauces or dairy. Salad but no onions or tomato.

They wouldn’t provide anything that wasn’t on the normal menu. I dreamed off food 24/7, it was all I talked about looking back! I couldn’t even have a cuppa 😣. I nearly died, the hospital and their staff were awful.

My mum managed to get me moved after a longtime to another nhs hospital. Totally different, lovely staff, they actually helped me and my condition. The surgeon came to see me and asked me to make a formal complaint about the previous hospital. I never did, I just wanted to put it all behind me

I'm really surprised as I've always been offered gluten free wraps and sandwiches and a wide range of gluten-free options at lunchtime and gluten free toast for breakfast. Ask to see a menu when asked what you'd like to eat.

They have a basic duty of care & they are missing the mark by miles.
Contact PALS & complain.
They may have someone who can go get some food for you.
Alternative is you ask a relative or friend to bring you some suitable food.
Sadly this situation is not uncommon & even if they did cater to your necessary dietary needs (I’m sure there are plenty of veggie & vegan options for those that CHOOSE to eat that way so why should catering to your medical need be such an issue) they will probably not have a celiac safe environment for the prep.
Since the traumatic birth of my daughter I have an issue with the a1 protein in dairy & gluten.
Thankfully the gluten just bloats me, slows my digestive system down, gives me dry skin & a rash on my arms but too much dairy causes Freddy Kruger trying to leave my guts pain - worst experience… I nearly passed out on toilet & actually contemplated calling my 8yr old to call 999 for me due to simply eating too much brie a few years ago -, clear the room farts & no warning explosive, liquid poops so if they messed that one up no-one would want to share a room with me. I even leave the room when the farts hit 😂

Butter beans don’t contain butter they just look the colour of butter & when cooked go soft like butter 😂
A1 dairy protein intolerant here & I love butter beans.
I can’t even have lactose free stuff as the protein is still in the milk. Thankfully Jersey & Guernsey cows produce milk without the protein so I can have a nice cup of tea or coffee again but it has taken 4 years of trying all the alternatives, Hemp milk was the closest to milk in tea or coffee, to discover that.

You're out of your tree.