Eating Takeaway In A Hospital Waiting Room Do You See It As Unreasonable

[Warrior96]

So long story short I ended up with an infected ear piercing and had to see an out of hours doctor at the hospital. My life medical problems always seem to happen on a Saturday or Sunday! Due to it is known to be a nasty infection I was admitted onto the ears nose and throat ward, it was average time 5-6 hours to see a doctor it took me 5 hours. In the meantime in the waiting room a couple sat next to me bought a KFC into the waiting room. I can understand people can get hungry with the long wait but there were a number of nauseous people in that waiting room. I feel they were being a bit selfish and could have bought something more appropriate.

AIBU?

I can barely stomach a cup of coffee in a hospital with all those smells and illness everywhere. No idea how anyone could eat a kfc 🤮

My young adult DD spent 8 hrs in A&E yesterday and was famished. My other DD took her a sandwich and some snacks. I feel it would have been inappropriate to take in anything smelly as there were several people who were nauseous or being physically sick.

I don't blame them tbh. I was in A&E for five hours last week with a DC and there was nothing I could eat. I was ravenous by early afternoon. (Disclaimer, I've never had a KFC or takeaway).

of course it's unreasonable but the public have no manners at all now or consideration for others. broken britain.

Yeah, which is weird, because I've never seen a KFC at a hospital. We have a 24/7 Costa, little newsagent type thing, a small cafe and vending machines at ours. You would have to walk past all those and leave the grounds to get a KFC, even if you Deliveroo'd it.

I think it’s common courtesy to not eat food with a strong smell in a public space like that.

a sandwich is one thing if you’re desperate - a fried / fast food meal is awful. I absolutely wouldn’t.

Broken Britain all right but not for the reason you're saying.

Hospitals used to have food easily available in the restaurant/cafe, from the shop, even from a trolley that came round but the trolley has gone and the cafe/shops aren't open 24/7.

People need to eat and they're going to eat what they can get. If hospitals don't want people eating fast food then they should have alternatives available.

Who cares? I don't eat KFC but I'd take one all day long over a sweaty vending machine butty.

The Costa in my local hospital closes at 6pm.

Also, I can't eat gluten and there's often nothing I can eat in a vending machine but I can get McDonald's and eat the burger and fries.

I absolutely would not want to eat my KFC in a hospital waiting room

I’d bloody well hope my dh wouldn’t be daft enough to offer a vomiting child kfc. My children might even be daft enough to eat it, and then we’d all be very sorry. That is NOT delicate stomach food!!

Followed by a fag outside the main entrance

The people OP is talking about weren't in EAU, clearly weren't prevented from going to look for food, and it's highly unlikely that both of them were prevented from leaving.

It shouldn't have to be a thing. No one should have to wait so long for treatment that they need to eat, but it happens. I wouldn't have a problem with it in those circumstances. In the doctor/ dentist waiting room, there's no reason for it so not acceptable there.

A snack is ok, but not a hot meal. Gross.

Awful and selfish behaviour. I had the women and the women's whole HUGE family eating pizza (dominoes I think) in the bed next to me just as I'd given birth. It wasn't in the uk. It was disgusting. It wouldn't have been so bad if it was just her but there were about ten of them.

I have the greatest sympathy. I remember being in surgical assessment, vomiting non stop despite anti emetics. The woman in the next bed was eating KFC with her partner. The smell made it all worse.

There's not a KFC near the hospital either, but plenty of sandwich and salad places that don't have the permeating smell. If I really couldn't avoid eating somewhere like a hospital it al just would opt for a cold sandwich or similar with as little smell as possible.

They did stop eventually when the nurse came and told her off. Apparently was meant to be nil by mouth, so her surgery was delayed, with much complaining from her partner about waiting.

Any infection can develop into an emergency, no matter where it started. Unless you're the doctor who assessed it, I suggest you don't know what you're talking about.

On the food thing, a couple of decades ago I would have agreed that it was antisocial. Now, however, people regularly wait 36 hours in A&E without being offered so much as a cup of tea. Options for acquiring food are generally pretty limited. It's unfortunate that it smells, but people need to eat. And in any case A&E waiting rooms tend to smell of shit, piss and vomit, due to very unwell people being crammed in like sardines with no medical care for hours and hours.

If you'd had a sandwich, the OP would probably be complaining that that smelled too strongly too!

It’s a communal waiting. You can’t really complain.

Your use of capital letters in the heading annoys me more than hungry patients having to eat a KFC while waiting five hours to see a doctor

I went to a&e with severe hyperemesis whilst pregnant. I hadn’t kept anything down for over a week and was ravenous but also extremely nauseous. The 4 girls next to me (offence in itself, it was a social occasion for them) ordered some takeaway which sent me over the edge. Bursting into tears then chundering violently into one of those cardboard things probably got the message across.

More thoughtlessness than anything else

It is utterly gross. Only a pig of a person would eat hot/smelly food in such a location.

I can remember when I was on the postnatal ward with DD the midwife actively encouraging me to order a pizza to the ward. I didn't bother, but I think it is quite normal in hospitals to eat whatever food is available/accessible.

There are far worse smells in hospital than KFC so I think if you're feeling sick, you're going to be suffering with the combination of smells more than the smell of KFC.

I wouldn't want to be eating anything at all if I was surrounded by people vomiting however!