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?

Well, it's not very nice being in an enclosed space with other people's smelly food. I'm sure we all agree on that one. Personally I wouldn't want to tuck into a takeaway when surrounded by people with nausea/infections/bandaged limbs etc. It would definitely put me off my food, even if I was one of them.

I would never eat smelly food like this, especially as I know there would be people who’ve gone hours without food and are really hungry.

I think it’s so selfish.
There’s nothing stopping them from eating outside or getting less smelly food.

There are so many foods one person would find appropriate that another will find revolting...

And often very few options at a hospital, as to whats open, available etc.

Then of course the person eating might need to factor in not just what they like/dislike from the available options but any health issues they have.

So 'will this food upset someone else around here' is bottom of the list of considerations!

One of my local hospitals, after about 6pm, the nearest, cheapest options are mcdonalds or KFC (you can up that to Dominoes or chinese if you want to pay a higher delivery cost). The hospitals canteen only runs til 6pm, after that there is only the food pre-ordered for those on wards and a vending machine with crisps/chocolate/biscuits.

The bigger hospital is slightly better, the shop is open til 5, canteen til 6 and Cafe Nero til 8pm. There are vending machines with hot soup, and hot sausage rolls/pasties (if they work! Often they're out of order) - these all absolutely stink... Vending machines with chocolate/crisps, and a coke machine.

Again beyond that, if you've not got a pre-ordered meal from the kitchen, as an in-patient, you are shit out of luck and it's takeaways or go hungry.

Sorry, I think YABU, people do have to eat, and these days you can spend a huge amount of time waiting around.

That would annoy me

Fortunately when DS had an A&E visit resulting in emergency surgery, the system was being very efficient that day. I took him in around 9am, he was triaged promptly, surgical team saw him at 3pm and he was in the operating theatre at 5pm. He was nil by mouth in case of surgery from mid-morning, and I couldn't reasonably leave a child in pain for longer than it took to go to the vending machine by the reception desk. The least inappropriate offering in there was a cereal bar.

I went on a food quest while he was in surgery and the cafés etc had shut at 4pm. Fortunately there is a supermarket in a short walking distance where I could get some supplies to keep me going until he was discharged mid-morning the next day.

If KFC or similar is the most practical option avaliable, then so be it.

There's plenty of offensive cold foods such as cheese and onion crisps or egg sandwiches that are the kind of thing that you would find in a machine or cafe counter.

If it's a family outing around a bargain bucket for the sake of a random family A&E gathering, that's different to emergency sustainance.

A lone parent with a child in A&E can't pop home for food.

In an ideal world hospitals should have a 24hr cafe offering breakfast / sandwiches / jacket potatoes etc. Chocolate and crisps from the vending machine isn't good enough. At least a skanky KFC is a filling 'meal' of carbs and protein.

If the food is strong smelling it's not appropriate. I would have got a sandwich. People can be very inconsiderate.

So selfish to bring something stinking into a public space, especially A&E where everyone is trapped. It's also noticeable that the people who eat in public are those who least need to do so.

YANBU. Fine to eat a sandwich but a takeaway is selfish. They smell strongly which isn’t helpful around sick and injured people. They could have eaten outside with someone waiting inside in case they were called or they could have had cold food.

I'd have been more concerned about my ear falling off. 😂

Could be worse. When my friend was on the maternity ward after giving birth, the family in the next bed pulled the curtain shut then whipped out a gas stove and started cooking… (they were stopped PDQ)

That's disgusting. People are animals. I wouldn't object to something that doesn't smell like some crackers but KFC?!

Yes, I don't think it's on. Get a sandwich, of course.

My poor mother, admitted several times in her final months, with nausea caused by her cancer, found this very hard.

So no-one in hospital, admitted within three days? Should have hot food? People go in with suspected heart attacks, injured limbs, breathing issues etc all meed to be there, all need decent nutrition. Not every serious condition causes you to lose your appetite and if you have diabetes, diverticulitis, are frail etc you need to eat. The average wait in A&E is five hours, even for a heart attack.

I’d hate it. Totally inappropriate in a waiting room for a ward where people are feeling unwell and nauseous. How selfish and inconsiderate.

There is no need to eat such stinking rubbish anytime, let alone in a hospital.

The nurses were giving out egg mayo sarnies to patients who'd been there all day, I'd much rather a kfc be whet I smell than a load of smelly eggs. I honestly don't care that people eat meals in a waiting room they've possibly spent many many hours there.

I was there 8 hours one day and sent back two weeks later where I had 6 hours to wait. It's a very long time to go without food and even though those egg sandwiches made me feel like hurling, It doesn't make those who also haven't eaten day selfish for eating them in public, I'd be the selfish one expecting people to go without food all day because I don't like the smell.

People don't often know they're gonna be sent to an and e and don't have time to plane a decent non smelly meal and it's not like you can nip to the cafe is it.

Agree. What's offensive is a matter of opinion anyway, and there often aren't a lot of options available. People need to eat, hospitals evidently aren't providing options for those waiting in A and E, so they look elsewhere.

For all the oodles of posts recommending sandwiches, they're not a good choice for everyone. Most of the pre-packaged ones seem to go right through me, more so as I get older. I don't know what it is they do to them, but it's something. And there's no guarantee a fresh sandwich option would be available for delivery.

You have X ray, medical diagnostic vision? You could save the NHS a fortune.

However if possible, then a sandwich would be better. I blame a lot of these issues on only having a Costa or M&S in hospitals, the prices are shocking. You could fill up for the day on KFC cheaper.

'Some are sensitive/allergic to certain ingredients'

Based on this, no one would be able to eat anything in there which is unreasonable when you are waiting hooooouuuuuuurs

Don’t think that’s your call to make and any infection can end up being nasty if untreated.

OP, given how long the waits are i think yab a little u.

Would a £15 wrap from the hospital Costa have appeased you more? People are expected to camp out in hospital now so this is the natural consequence of that.

Let people be ffs

I used to regularly spend six to eight weeks in hospital with my DS who couldn’t be left. I also used to be in a/e waiting to admitted with him three/four times a month. My husband ( now exh) stayed at home with my other kids.
There are only so many manky sandwiches one person can eat and when you are regularly surviving on two hours sleep a night you need food. So yes I ordered takeaways and yes I would do it again.

Those of us with allergies cannot eat anything from the likes of pret.

We had to put up notices in our dental surgery waiting room as people were bringing fish and chips/ pies etc in to eat whilst waiting for friends/family appointments and no they didn’t brush before coming in to see me. We had a few kicking off when we sent them , and their food , outside.