[jambutty]

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.