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NHS catering: the real reason so much food is thrown away NHS catering: the real reason so much food is thrown away
(2 months later)
That food is wasted in hospitals is undoubtedly true ("Hospitals are wasting 82,000 meals a day") but not mainly for the reasons given.That food is wasted in hospitals is undoubtedly true ("Hospitals are wasting 82,000 meals a day") but not mainly for the reasons given.
Much waste is not to do with the quality of food but due to the varying degrees of patients' illnesses – and thus appetite – and to do with the fact that food is chosen by the patient some time before it actually arrives.Much waste is not to do with the quality of food but due to the varying degrees of patients' illnesses – and thus appetite – and to do with the fact that food is chosen by the patient some time before it actually arrives.
In the hospital I know best, trolleys are not loaded up with similar sized portions and served regardless. Rather, there is a choice of main and pudding (three of each), the size of which can be requested by the patient and served within minutes.In the hospital I know best, trolleys are not loaded up with similar sized portions and served regardless. Rather, there is a choice of main and pudding (three of each), the size of which can be requested by the patient and served within minutes.
Size of portion can be requested by the patient. Special diets are meticulously catered for. Protected meal times are aspired to but too often interrupted by staff who have other duties. Some hospitals have volunteer feeders who help and encourage those with flagging appetites and/or fractured limbs.Size of portion can be requested by the patient. Special diets are meticulously catered for. Protected meal times are aspired to but too often interrupted by staff who have other duties. Some hospitals have volunteer feeders who help and encourage those with flagging appetites and/or fractured limbs.
Patients who criticise hospital food most readily are usually those who are most ill and praise comes very frequently from others.Patients who criticise hospital food most readily are usually those who are most ill and praise comes very frequently from others.
Why food should be completely free in hospitals remains a mystery. Would it be too much to suggest that those patients who indignantly complain most should ask their relatives to supply what they want? Or would that generate another unseemly row?Why food should be completely free in hospitals remains a mystery. Would it be too much to suggest that those patients who indignantly complain most should ask their relatives to supply what they want? Or would that generate another unseemly row?
David J HandleyDavid J Handley
SkiptonSkipton
That so many hospital meals are being thrown away is symptomatic of the way the British regard food (disposable, cheap, carb-heavy, fast). It's a practice readily adopted by hospitals, whose captive audiences are fed a poor quality diet of unimaginative, bland, heavy, cut-rate food; this is accepted as the norm not only by the majority of patients but also, disgracefully, by hospital staff, including doctors.That so many hospital meals are being thrown away is symptomatic of the way the British regard food (disposable, cheap, carb-heavy, fast). It's a practice readily adopted by hospitals, whose captive audiences are fed a poor quality diet of unimaginative, bland, heavy, cut-rate food; this is accepted as the norm not only by the majority of patients but also, disgracefully, by hospital staff, including doctors.
Recently, I talked to a student doctor who dismissed the idea of learning about appropriate, nutritious food intake for patients; it was, he said, "not our remit, not a necessary part of our training". Surely it is way past time to introduce proper, healthy, energy-giving meals that transfer well from kitchen to ward and help patients recover more quickly.Recently, I talked to a student doctor who dismissed the idea of learning about appropriate, nutritious food intake for patients; it was, he said, "not our remit, not a necessary part of our training". Surely it is way past time to introduce proper, healthy, energy-giving meals that transfer well from kitchen to ward and help patients recover more quickly.
Without doubt, doctors themselves need lessons in healthy food, which would then filter down to staff and patients. Throwing away far less is the really healthy way forward in this saga of waste and hospital malnutrition. And hospitals should employ proper cooks rather than outside caterers who simply cut corners and costs to their shareholders' advantage. Quality over quantity is the way forward.Without doubt, doctors themselves need lessons in healthy food, which would then filter down to staff and patients. Throwing away far less is the really healthy way forward in this saga of waste and hospital malnutrition. And hospitals should employ proper cooks rather than outside caterers who simply cut corners and costs to their shareholders' advantage. Quality over quantity is the way forward.
Carol GodsmarkCarol Godsmark
ChichesterChichester
West SussexWest Sussex
I was interested to read in your article on wasted hospital meals that in Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust 29% of meals were left uneaten. Recently, I was a patient for more than two weeks in Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire hospital and I struggled to get enough to eat, despite ticking the "large" portion box. Is three Brussels sprouts really a large portion, or 17 peas? A large portion of minted potatoes containing just two small ones left me wondering how many a small portion would contain and, looking at other patients' meals, it seems that whatever size of portion you requested you still received what looks like one ice-cream scoop of mashed potato.I was interested to read in your article on wasted hospital meals that in Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust 29% of meals were left uneaten. Recently, I was a patient for more than two weeks in Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire hospital and I struggled to get enough to eat, despite ticking the "large" portion box. Is three Brussels sprouts really a large portion, or 17 peas? A large portion of minted potatoes containing just two small ones left me wondering how many a small portion would contain and, looking at other patients' meals, it seems that whatever size of portion you requested you still received what looks like one ice-cream scoop of mashed potato.
When I mentioned that my wife was bringing me sandwiches to supplement my meagre meals, the ward sister contacted catering. My next meal was exactly the same size as before, but I received two bowls of rice pudding!When I mentioned that my wife was bringing me sandwiches to supplement my meagre meals, the ward sister contacted catering. My next meal was exactly the same size as before, but I received two bowls of rice pudding!
John MalcomsonJohn Malcomson
SheffieldSheffield
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