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?

Yes of course it’s unreasonable- and in a lot of cases indicates that what is happening for that person is neither an accident or emergency. People get hungry, but eating in a waiting room isn’t necessary. And if you are really unwell enough for A and E, the chances are that being hungry isn’t on your list of priorities

Lots of people's 'nearest hospital' is miles from where they live!!

YANBU - stinking food in a small space is horrible.

It was 8 hour wait last time I was at A&E in September….. people get hungry

Last time I was in A&E we waited 32 hours. The patient was my 84 year old father who has Alzheimer's, kidney disease, cancer and a heart condition. Oddly enough, he does need to eat every now and again. The hospital is on the outskirts of town, nowhere near any of these ubiquitous sandwich shops and salad bars. The vending machine was broken. If there had been a fast food outlet within walking distance, of course we would have bought him something to eat.

I was absolutely there because it was an emergency (sent by my GP). There was also elderly people in eau who hadn't eaten for almost 12 hours, including one diabetic lady who ended up even more unwell because her blood sugar had dropped so much.

It's disingenuous to say that just because you're in A&E you're not going to be hungry!

So what's your solution?

I was in last week with food poisoning from chicken and likely would have thrown up

What a horrible thing to say. People are regularly waiting 12+ (if not more) hours in A&E and are going to eat what is available to them.

I absolutely hate the smell of KFC but wouldn't judge someone for eating it.

Wait times are crazy. Maybe they got the only food available to them? Or the easiest,/quickest.

Last time I was in A&E it was overnight, took something like 9 hours to be seen. There was a vending machine and it was completely empty.

Even if it had been stocked it would have been things like flavoured water (with artificial sweeteners, which I hate) and nakd bars as the Health Board has a healthy eating policy, which is fine, but a nakd bar isn't a meal.

Having previously experienced this I did have a bag with a thermos of tea and some snacks alongside my kindle and headphones.

I once ordered an Ubereats delivery to a ward waiting area. I was six hours into waiting for a bed, hadn’t had a chance to eat before I arrived, a routine antenatal appointment turned into a crisis. My delivery instructions included “follow purple lines on floor” and “4th floor of building, on chair outside ward”. I can’t remember what the food was - whatever the nearest cafe had available, I think some sort of sandwich.

I always packed something with me subsequently, but I can absolutely sympathise with the situation in the OP. KFC isn’t a good choice but who knows what else was available.

I think people who think smelly food is disgusting are weird. Food is supposed to be smelly. The smelliness often indicates that it is tasty. I do understand that if you are feeling unwell strong smells might make you feel nauseous, but someone else who is unwell might have their condition exacerbated by not eating enough. Why should one person's aversion to strong smells overrule another's need for food? For the record, I have never eaten hot food in a hospital waiting area, but I wouldn't be upset if somebody else did.

Edited add I quoted the wrong person sorry!!

I went to visit my mil recently, she had had a fall and had been left on a trolley in the hallway for hours at that point, her friend had just arrived with fast food for her to eat when I got there because the hospital don't provide food until you are admitted and it was 8pm at that point and she hadn't eaten since breakfast. The fast food place is just across the road from the hospital.

There are lots of reasons people can be hungry and be in A&E like my mil who broke her collar bone. She really isn't 'a pig of a person' she is a woman in her 70s who was left all day by the hospital without food. People do their best in times of crisis but they don't always plan ahead, it isn't always clear how long you are going to be left waiting, it can be hard for people to get in to help because of work and family commitments. People tend to reactive in those kind of situations, rather than preemptive. You get there, find out that your friend hasn't eaten so you go to the nearest quickest place you can to get them food.

So vaping and farting is ok also?

Last year I waited 18 hours before being triaged. I didn't dare leave A&E in case I was called. By the time I got one dry cheese sandwich 26 hours after arriving at A&E (I had been transferred and admitted to a ward by then) I was so hungry, I would have eaten anything. late at night, the only delivery or take away options are fast food, like McDonalds or KFC.

All part of life's rich tapestry 😁

@QuestionableMouse there is NO excuse for eating hot food in such a location.

Why are you bothered? And it may have been the only place open/affordable at that time of day.

Vaping is disgusting anywhere and isn't comparable because it's already banned inside.

Farting is a normal bodily function like being hungry.

KFC is bloody expensive so that's a load of nonsense

A bit besides the point, but I can't imagine wanting to eat in the same room where people are vomiting- it would put me right off my food no matter how hungry I was

So what's your solution? You've been in the waiting room for hours, the cafe and shop are closed and you can't leave. Often fast food is all that's available.

What are they meant to eat if they haven't had dinner yet? The vending machine crisps and chocolate isn't enough, and the hospital cafes usually shut by about 6pm, and are generally still hot food unless someone is going to be filled up by a sandwich.

Is it? I haven't bought anything from there for more than 30 years. But even if it's expensive, it still might be the cheapest thing to buy in that area. Or the people may like it? And they are entitled to buy what they like - and I can't blame them for preferring KFC to the cardboard-tasting sandwiches hospitals sometimes have in vending machines.