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.

Had this when I had ds they weren't feeding me every night I woukd ask for a gluten free breakfast every day it failed to arrive every day I complained they said they would send out for a gluten free evening meal every day I was offered a sandwich made with gluten containing bread and I would say again I'm GLUTEN FREE ds was in nicu so I couldn't just take him home and I wasn't dumping him there they would also call me over to breastfeed him and cupfed him first so he wouldn't stay on the breast and send me away by day three I was hungry and PISSED OFF I had one meal in three days I ended up crying to a senior nurse who got me and my son together on a transition unit grabbed me a gluten free loaf of bread and a toaster of my own with some butter I was finally able to eat and feed my baby there justification for this was we don't cater for fad diets only genuine intolerance and allergy...I HAVE a genuine intolerance its literally in my notes!

The ignorance was astonishing why can't you eat wheatabix? What about shredded wheat? Toast? Madness

And if my DD school can manage to cater for all sorts of intolerances and allergies I don't see why the menu can't be overhauled. Quite honestly, it would be better to have less meat and dairy products anyway and probably cheaper. I always stick to the jacket potato or sandwich option as anything else is too risky in hospital!

This makes my blood boil. Hospitals need to look after people’s medical needs.
Coeliac disease is a severe autoimmune disorder.
It’s not like an intolerance where you might get a bit of stomach upset.
Even a tiny trace of gluten will result in a whole body autoimmune reaction.
If my daughter is gluten-free she is ill for 7 days and incapacitated for 4 days. She has pain so bad she can’t think of anything else, migraine, neuropathy and severe vomiting.

I've had this issue on two hospital admissions. I'm allergic to pulses/beans.

There was a baked potato on the menu with beans and cheese but apparently it was absolutely impossible for me to have the potato and cheese but without the beans.

The only other option on the menu for me was a salad. When I was in after DD was born my milk was slow coming in and I'm pretty sure a tiny plate of basic salad as a meal wouldn't have helped.

Now when I go to hospital I take a bag of food including bread I can eat, cheese, cereal etc.

Keto is a proven effective restriction for epilepsy. It also reduces inflammation in CFS/ Fibromyalgia
So not always 'faddy'.

Seems like that's the least of the issues for the NHS right now

Are you implying it’s acceptable for a patient in hospital to not receive any food during their stay? It’s not an option for a Coeliac to eat gluten containing foods. It’s a serious auto immune disease.

Yes it's possible because one meal can tick a few boxes. Vegan covers a lot of religious diet restrictions, lactose/MP/egg etc allergy. Vegetarian is easy, throw in the soup and sandwiches and you can cater for everyone. There should also be a range of puddings.
Two of my DD'S work in catering in seperate hospitals, the catering staff are well trained in allergies and know their menu. This is a failing of the management and when people are sectioned it's a matter of PALS, any MH charities you can contact and your MP.

Disagree. Hospitals need to offer a wide range of tasty and nourishing food that sick people will eat - and that includes meat.

School has a cooking club- they don't know who is coming so they need to plan things that are suitable for vegetarian/vegan intolerances etc. i think the menu should be reduced so it is suitable for more people eg what's wrong with a cauliflower and chickpea curry with rice. That type of food would be much better in terms of health, allergies and cost. One cooked meal, jacket and topping option and pre-packed sandwiches.

Poor you OP. I agree not supplying people with dietary choices and they should provide their own food but be made aware they will be doing this. However an actual genuine allergy should be catered for.

@Untitledsquatboulder so desire for meat trumps allergies, health and cost?

not ‘unusual’ foods at all. It’s mature cheeses, red wine, certain beers, marmite, many processed meats, anything fermented, pickled, hung. Soy sauce, anything containing soy sauce, dried fruit, overripe fruit, pseudoephedrine (Sudafed), certain cough medicines.

Must just be households I encounter, lots of people I know eat little/none of those things. MIL would refuse them all : she'd be very anxious if no meat all day.

I'd struggle as a cheese addict. DH would only miss the cheese & salami (a little). DS would only miss salami, ham & raisins (in his bagels). Other DS would miss ... ham. Are sausage meats disallowed, too?

Oh wait, I tell a lie. MIL sometimes has raisins in her muesli. She could easily go without, though.

Yeah I have ibs and can’t eat lots of food without ending up in severe pain/vomiting/shitting myself. I remember after labour, after having not eaten anything for 60 odd hours, the nurse banged a slice of brown toast down on a tray and barked ‘out of white bread. Brown is better for you anyway.’ And stomped off before I could reply. I wasn’t expecting much-but couldn’t they have offered some cornflakes or something? I can’t digest brown bread at all. And I was starving.

I wrote about exactly this about 2 years ago. Nothing for me to eat. I ate nothing but jelly for 4 days. It's ridiculous. Being coeliac is not that rare.

You have a husband who can bring you something in? You're not in a closed hospital given you can use the internet and I'm assuming on a section 2. You have options patients on a section 3 don't have.

Im aware youre cross you are where you are, as it's against your will. Ask your husband to bring in what you need until it's sorted.

@Balloonsandroses I feel for you OP,I’ve worked in psych hospitals as an AHP and the knowledge around patients physical illnesses has on occasions been shockingly neglectful.I don’t know if your husband can escalate a complaint asap, if you were diabetic on top of coeliac you’d be quickly heading for a health crisis plus trialling new meds (that can lead to a variety of side-effects )when you aren’t being given proper nutrition is also a bad idea.

My elderly mum is coaliac and diabetic. They gave her white bread the whole time in there. Useless. She is elderly and ate it.

That's fair, I didn't realise it was so serious. I know a coeliac colleague and they've never expressed any of this. My general point was that NHS is such a mess, and there are so many dietary requirements (albeit less serious than this) so I'm not surprised this has happened. I did say in another post I'm a cynic so I'm the expect the worst type. Also in my friends and family we always take people in hospital food not due to dietary needs, just because it tastes bad

They should be able to provide basic foods for you. Have you spoken to ward sister.

I don't think it's an either/or. And speaking as someone whose disease (Crohns) means I need high calorie, low residue food during a flare I'm wondering what you think those of us with IBD will be eating in this brave new world of yours? Let alone the sick children who are picky at the best of times. Or the (often malnourished) elderly who need foods they are familiar with.

Please don’t give misleading information like this. Yes of course some antidepressants mean you can’t have cheese and yeast extract. You are implying it’s the OP illness making her think that she can’t eat them and not a medical necessity. Do you even know what antidepressants she is on?

Lack of ability to meet dietary requirements (and beyond that, total apathy, disinterest and ignorance as well) has long been an issue.

I get berated by consultants about my diet, about my inability to manage my diabetes to the degree they want it managed, about the pain my inoperable gallstones often cause, about my weight... its EASY, just have more will power, just work harder at it.. they say.

Then, when I am hospitalised, the foods they offer are the exact foods I am told to avoid, and oh, its not easy, its actually FAR too difficult for them to provide a gallstone friendly, diabetic friendly, vegetarian diet.

I am indeed outrageous for suggesting they should be able to do so.

I did lose a stone in nearly a fortnight... that triggered my gallbladder to flare up again, as sudden starvation and weightloss will do.

YANBU OP. Not at all.

I couldn't speak for psych facilities but in a general hospital setting we all have to do food safety e-learning. Surely they have to do it in all nhs settings? This covers allergies and dietary needs, which can be met by the diet kitchen. Of course physical health needs must be met for all in patients whatever the setting. It's outrageous.

@Balloonsandroses I can only assume people voting yabu don’t realise coeliac means there is no option it’s not like you suspect you may have an intolerance or are citing a preference.
You’ve been sectioned ffs and it’s bloody traumatic being in a psych ward as it is. I’m so sorry this is another layer added to that. I hope you’re back home soon and in the mean time this is definitely worthy of a complaint. Are you able to get someone to do something in the interim? They are not meeting their basic duty of care to you 😢 I’m sure someone working on the ward will be concerned about this? I really hope so. I know weekends are probably compounding things. Things will have to be sorted I hope sooner rather than later. Can they get you a takeaway in the interim I know that’s allowed sometimes but you shouldn’t need to pay.

Being Vegan is a lifestyle choice. Being coeliac is a medical condition. You eat something non vegan and it's sad. Coeliacs eat something not gluten free and it's days in bed for me.....