Cold Comfort NHS Style

jambutty · 24-07-2006, 12:27

I’ve borrowed the headline from that on the front page of the Telegraph because it is better than the one I was going to use. Thank you Telegraph headline writer.

Hot off the Telegraph front page is a report by Oliver Evans that BRH is not going to serve hot meals at lunchtime. The proposal is to serve sandwiches and hot soup instead. So that is half a hot meal. The reason being - saving money.

I don’t know about anyone else but I do not have two hot meals a day. In fact my lunchtime snack is a couple of sandwiches or a bowl of soup, especially during days like we are having when it is hot.

So I approve of the change although that would depend on whether there would be a choice of soup and choice of sandwich.

entwisi · 24-07-2006, 12:54

I normally have two hot meals a day especially in winter.

Tealeaf · 24-07-2006, 13:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by jambutty

I’ve I don’t know about anyone else but I do not have two hot meals a day. In fact my lunchtime snack is a couple of sandwiches
.

Jam,I presume.

I don't understand what the fuss is about; the NHS is not the National Hotel Service, so why it should provide "full board"? If someone is lolling around in bed all day, they simply do not require the calorific intake as represented by a 2 or 3 course lunch; if patients do want it, then charge 'em for it - and give 'em a health warning at the same time.

andrewb · 24-07-2006, 13:38

I only eat sandwichs in summer time really (and at college). If it is winter I prefer two hot meals a day.

garinda · 24-07-2006, 13:42

Good idea, as long as you can get Focaccia, and not just two triangles of soggy Mother's pride,

Gayle · 24-07-2006, 13:47

Don't forget the filling - sweaty cheese or tuna!

jambutty · 24-07-2006, 13:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tealeaf

Jam,I presume.

I don't understand what the fuss is about; the NHS is not the National Hotel Service, so why it should provide "full board"? If someone is lolling around in bed all day, they simply do not require the calorific intake as represented by a 2 or 3 course lunch; if patients do want it, then charge 'em for it - and give 'em a health warning at the same time.

Tee Hee! No! Not jam. That’s for on toast in the evening.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in hospital in recent years but during the first few days I wasn’t too interested in a meal hot or cold. It was only towards the end of my stay that food interested me.

If the proposal does come to pass, as I’m sure it will, it will mean that no longer will some patients get a cooked meal that has dried up for being in the heated trolley for so long. That has to be a plus.

Tealeaf · 24-07-2006, 13:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by jambutty

If the proposal does come to pass, as I’m sure it will, it will mean that no longer will some patients get a cooked meal that has dried up for being in the heated trolley for so long. That has to be a plus.

Exactly. Over half of all hospital food ends up in the pig swill bucket; why contine to waste money on this when it could be much better spent on clinical services?

Margaret Pilkington · 24-07-2006, 14:01

Hospital food is not hotel standard by any means....and when I was working, there was always a choice of a cold meal.....some people eat their hot meal at lunchtimes....others in the evening.
Food is an integral part of getting better. If you do not provide appetising meals then the economy is a false one....more food is wasted...and patient do not recover as promptly.
I think this economy measure is flawed.

Acrylic-bob · 24-07-2006, 14:16

Let me see if I have got this right, the hospital has just opened and already they are cutting services to save money?

Tealeaf · 24-07-2006, 14:19

New hospital, new ways of doing things.

jambutty · 24-07-2006, 14:44

I agree with you Margaret Pilkington that food is an integral part of recovery. Pity that half the time it isn’t fit for human consumption. The food may have left the kitchens as an edible meal but by the time that it was served it was a dried up mess. It was a regular occurrence that the heated food trolleys would be outside the ward at least half an hour before meals were due to be served and often longer as some crisis or other delayed the serving. On a number of occasions the crisis was simply that the two Auxiliaries who were supposed to serve the meals were sat nattering in the ward kitchen.

It would have been far better if the ward routine could accommodate the serving of meals the minute that the heated trolley arrives.

The last time that the NHS had managed to get me in their clutches there was a choice of hot or cold but the cold was either a sandwich or salad. However we only got soup at tea time. Years ago there was breakfast at some ungodly hour of the morning, with a hot or cold lunch at around noon then at around 4 o’clock there was tea that consisted of a brew, of course and a slice of bread and real butter and a piece of cake. Then at around 6:30pm we had dinner, which was much like lunch.

For the mid day meal that I have just finished I’ve had an egg salad for starters, followed by half a tin of mixed fruit salad with Carnation after which came a fresh cream raspberry turnover and a strawberry trifle. And now I am munching on a juicy red apple. For afters there will be some seedless green grapes. Sadly I ate my sole mango yesterday and it was absolutely delicious.

Margaret Pilkington · 24-07-2006, 14:55

On the ward where I worked, the heated trolley was pushed to the ward doors by the porters, followed very promptly by the waitress who was allocated to the ward to serve the food.
If the food that you were served was found to be inedible you should have complained....firstly to the Ward Sister/Nurse in charge.......if this elicited no response, then you could write on your menu which was to be submitted for the next days food....this would have brought the Food Supervisor to your bedside to hear your complaint....and he would have outlined what his plan was to remedy the situation. This was what was in place when I left 4 years ago.....OK, I know things have changed. But whatever changes are made to save money, the patients recovery should not be compromised.
Goodness, when I was there, they were talking about fancy Lloyd Grossman recipes....food that was impractical to give to patients....and in some cases, food that would not be acceptable because it was too rich.

lettie · 24-07-2006, 16:40

I agree in principal because of the vast amount of wasted food that ends up being thrown away. This plan has been on the cards for a while in order to save money and has nothing to do with the opening of the new hospital but the fact that there is a lot of food wasted.

The bad thing is that we have heard on the grapevine that the ward waitress service which we had at QPH is stopping and that the nurses will have to give out meals. I can vouch that we don't have time to do that on maternity and that the patients will probably be asked to get their own off the trolley. That would be fine for our patients who are mobile but on an elderly medical or orthopaedic ward it may not be so simple.

I suppose that we are still quite lucky in this country that we get fed in hospital. My friend was admitted to a private hospital in Turkey whilst on holiday and needed an emergency operation. Not only did her husband have to go in with her and provide care such as bedbathing and helping her to the toilet, but he also had to provide her with food. The nurses only did dressings and doling out drugs over there, and for that limited service she was charged a small fortune.

Madhatter · 24-07-2006, 17:54

I think it's ok as long as the days meal is still a ballanced meal.
I didn't want to leave hospital I thought the meals were so good. They let me order, and I was really looking forward to it and then they threw me out, literally. I was in agony, could hardly stand.