American
I got a bit involved in surveys. One problem is cost, nearly all catering now comes from big organisations who come in with lower tenders than local bodies. That compounds the problem , with more distant supply involving food that is steam reheated closer to point of consumption. The other problem relates to the meat and three veg syndrome in the menus. But it’s unpalatable and not nutritious. And it ignores the ethnic mix of patients in public hospitals. I got no reply to my question on the nutritional value to patients.
There is a fiction of choice of menu. Much play is made of the choice of menu, but there is no real choice. The bright yellow rubber of the omelette choice is vomit inducing.
I’ve worked out that if you claim special dietary requirements on grounds of health or religion, or culture you get a much better deal. Or, you arrange for a source of outside supply. A Chinese patient arranged for his wife to bring in a supply of daily meals in thermos boxes.
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Not to mention the ‘fish’ option. Which quite frankly, is disgusting. Smells awful and if possible tastes even worse. I literally retched last time I tried to have a bite.
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Airlines seem to do it a bit better on long haul flights
And never ever go the pasta option.
My son gleefully ordered spaghetti while in hospital when he was small. The horrified look on his face when he was presented with Mr Heinz variety was something to behold.
Best thing to eat in hospital are the we hope you enjoy your stay complimentary Arnott’s biscuits.
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I still remember being slightly horrified after discovering on a school camp that you could buy spaghetti out of a tin, and that people put it on toast…
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Spot the italian, greek, etc etc.
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Pretty much lived on them and cheese and crackers.
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Sunshine got it right, catering a shocker, but kitchens for patient use, including toasters, microwaves , fridges and the bonus of a decent cafe with a half decent menu at reasonable prices that did not shut down at 5pm. No such choice at RMH rehab and no Arnott’s biscuits. You could die there from starvation if you did not have thoughtful visitors .
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One large private hospital i know of recently built about a 40m2 kitchen setup, at a cost of some millions, then about a week later made the decision to bring in all the meals.
Your private health insurance, hard at work.
You’re onto something with the dietary reqs. Some hospitals have the standard stuff brought in, dietary reqs get done on site (hence much fresher).
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I owe RMH my life - but their food is the worst.
When the management gets a pay rise or bonus for cost cutting and delivering better dividends for shareholders, (it is happenening in aged care residences) standards fall appallingly. The bigger the organisation, like BUPA, the more likely it is. And when those places run by not for profit charities sell out to them, it happens all over again.
Some in my family in aged care have been through three changes of ownership, gets worse every time, although helpful Commonwealth Government agency will take up extreme cases and place them on accreditation watch list - and publicise it.
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I didn’t think you could fark up making a sandwich prior to hospital admission. I also got served those dinner rolls you buy at Coles/Woolies that you are meant to cook. Mine were not cooked.
It shouldn’t be too hard to make decent sandwiches, salads and soup for lunch and ceral for breakfast in house.
Anything requiring the cooking of meats , pasta and the like get a proper catering company in.
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Yeah now try cooking a few hundred meals at the same time. Delivered across maybe a dozen wards all at the same time. Some meals can be solid. Some semi liquid, some fully vitamised. Some people can eat everything, others have intolerances or allergies, religious considerations, then plain old personal preferences. And all done as cheaply as possible, because the private health funds squeeze the right side of politics to defund medicare at every opportunity.
It’s not cooking a meal for a person
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RMH is criminally underfunded: joint’s a tip.
This happens in many kinds of places - it just isn’t a good excuse. You’d have to be off your farkin head not to see that their food is ■■■■. Keep the same budget, make it not ■■■■. It really isn’t that hard a farkin brief. I won’t accept any excuse at all for serving absolute rubbish to sick people at their most vulnerable.
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It’s true - the place is terrible. But the doctors are good, and the staff are caring.
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Ah yes. They’re doing it intentionally, out of spite. Of course.
Every dollar they spend on food is a dollar they’re not spending on stuff that actually gets people healthy and gets them out of hospital.
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