Cold Comfort NHS Style
 

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.

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

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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.

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

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

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

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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.

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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?

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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.

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

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New hospital, new ways of doing things.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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I agree with you wholeheartedly Margaret, you need food to help you recover from any illness, this cut can in some cases prolong stays in hospital

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The last time I had to stay in hospital i only eat two meals and i was in there for four days. Wasnt allowed to eat until i'd had my op and didnt go down to theatre till midnight then got my breakfast and had dinner was sick and after that i didnt eat the docs wouldnt let me eat and told me that i could go home before they even let me out of my bed!

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I'm actually surprised that in the new hospital they didn't leave space for a macdonalds/burger king franchise. It would make a fortune in blackburn :D

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There proberly is space but the rents both would be charged are too high. :eek: :D What about a nice little burger van?

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Yes a burger van! Then we'll have a fully enclusive site! Go get burger, get food poisoning, visit onsite hospital! :D

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Lots of hospitals in Oz have such facilities. They also have ATM's and gift and flower shops. Come to think of it the Christie Hospital has a cafe in the foyer....and a gift shop. It might generate enough income to help the RBH out of its current financial fix.

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Margaret - are you serious? The aim of the NHS is to cure illness, not cause it.There are enough problems already in the incidence of MRSA and C.difficile within our hospitals without placing salmonella-ridden burger vans outside every front entrance. In addition, there are huge long term problems building up with young persons obesity levels, the primary cause of which is the consumption of junk food. And you want this rubbish to be commercially available in hospitals so that trusts can make a few bob in rental income?

Please, think again. The likes of Macs, KFC's and filthy burger vans should not be allowed within 10 miles of a hospital.

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Tealeaf, you must have got me mixed up with someone else.......I didn't mention MacDonalds, KFC or any of those franchises. I simply said that
many hospitlas in Oz offered some sort of food, gift and flower shops in their foyer........and that the Christie had a little cafe and a gift shop in its' foyer.......and I suggested that such outlets may bring the RBH some revenue to help them out of their current financial crisis....which would be better thancurtailing a hot meal service to patients.

In one of the big hospitals in Oz, there is a MacDonalds outlet.....and you know who are the most regular visitors....the kids having Chemo.....and they get their shakes and fries free......they go there with their families and you can see them with their drips and their bandannas.....and for some it may be the only thing they will eat while they are on these drugs. Yes we do have a problem with obesity, but as I have said in other posts on the subject, childhood obesity is a multi-faceted problem, which requires a multi-faceted approach.
After all, unless I am very much mistaken there is a KFC just across the Road from the bottom end of the RBH.....if folk really want to eat that junk, then they will go across the road.
If you check my post i don't recall mentioning burger vans.

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Margaret, I took your post as being in reply to those of Enti & Spugs. I have visted many hospitals myself and I know the range of retail outlets that are available. In the grounds of the Royal London - not to far away from where I write - there are several craft stalls most days of the week, while there is also a resident WH Smiths shop & a hospital volunteers shop. There used to be a massive Macs at Guy's hospital - it may still be there.

I have no argument with subletting surplus or planned floorspace for commercial activities, if it means the hospital makes money out of it. However, like car-parking fees and pay as you go telly & phones, junk food outlets can cause more hidden harm than good.

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Ah, I see......!
I do not agree with the patientline rip off (TV and phone lines)...these were services that were unopposed so they had a monopoly in the hospital premises......which effectively meant that patients had no choice. I do not see any harm in having some retail outlets......somewhere that you can buy a toothbrush if you are taken into hospital suddenly...and I don't mean at ripoff prices. Somehow, retailers think if you are incarcerated in a place that you can't easily get out of, they can (and do ) charge ridiculous prices.
The Christie has something similar.....they have a small cafe/Coffee shop.....the food is good, the sandwiches are fresh and they have a good choice. Used to take my Mum sometimes, when she was in there for a month having Radiotherapy..........sometimes she just 'fancied' something other than what was available on the ward. And what she fancied most of all was bacon and egg.......I know it isn't particularly healthy, but when you are having such treatment, foods lose their flavour, or they have a nasty metallic taste. So, yes....on the whole I do agree that fast food outlets may not be the way to go......but even MacDonalds are introducing foods that are not the usual 'Junk'......and sometimes just a little of what you fancy does you good....especially when you are ill.

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The new RBH has a large United News shop in the foyer. This is the same company which had the smaller shop in the portacabin at the back (now closed). There is also a cafe at the main entrance.