McDonalds is more healthy than NHS hospital food!

[redrevis]

Jails offer a better dietary standard than NHS hospitals do! I think priorities are being slightly misplaced here 😱
http://bit.ly/KvZoZ6

One curry served to patients had SIX times more fat than a KFC Zinger Burger with fries.

And a pasta dish had over THREE times a person’s total daily recommended saturated fat intake and TWICE the salt limit.

Seventy-five per cent of hospital nosh contained more saturated fat than a Big Mac, while 60 per cent had more salt, experts discovered.

And 40 per cent of meals had higher saturated fat levels than a 9in Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza. The stodgy fare helps explain why 30million dishes a year go uneaten in English hospitals, despite ?50million spent in the past decade to improve them.

 

[MeanMom]

My daughter was in hospital for minor surgery this last week - the food (on Childrens ward) was not really what I would call healthy especially for a diabetic child. It was very carb centered and at a guess pretty high fat too. They are fixated on three course meals, but first course was always either watery soup or Orange Juice 😱 .The first meal after surgery ended up being cheese sandwich in White bread. This is the meal she had when we got there (so ordered for her by hospital)

I took the Orange juice away.
Not impressed.
Would have liked to have got meals from hospital cafe for her (like I did) as they were far better. Wonder if I can get away with it next time we go?

 

[Twitchy]

When I was stuck in hospital with Pre Eclampsia for a week or so before my first baby was born the food was all really hard to carb count stuff, like cottage pie etc...& seriously unappetising! (never before or since seen mixed veg dry burnt in a bain marie!! 😱) Hubby used to bring me in sarnies, bics, apples etc that i could carb count & as there was no carb content info available they grudgingly agreed to give me salad instead of the hot meal (a few lettuce leaves, a few chunks of cucumber & the odd bit of tomatoe). Hubby also brought me in hard boiled eggs & chunks of chicken & cheese - I was passing so much protein it was the only time I had cravings & it was for these things lol. The hospital food was awful & hard to get to too - i had drips /drip stands on both arms, was very ill & more or less bed bound at this point so often firgotten as everyone was supposed to go & queue with their trays at the far end of the ward (this was the 'high risk' ward too!!!). Because the maternity part was in a seperate building from thd main hospital there was no 'diabetic' option for meals - apparently due to logistics although i noted with interest halal & vegetarian options could be managed!!🙄 Overall I was utterly utterly unimpressed - if it wasnt for an amazing obstetrician & the nice delivery ward staff I would have chewed my own arm off to avoid ever going back there again (lots of bad experiences, not just food!!)

Anyway, 'nuff ranting! 😱

 

[trophywench]

And did they provide you with a carb count for each meal?

If not what are you sposed to do with it, since you don't eat that muck at home! The only thing I'd be able to eyeball is the mash.

Are they prunes? How many kids actually like prunes!

How are you sposed to calculate your insulin?

 

[MeanMom]

Trophy - no there was no carb count- we guessed (wrong as it turned out) using the Carbs and Cals app we have. It was (allegedly) Macaroni Cheese, Mash green beans (the dark brown was the burnt cheese on top of Macaroni) The pud is chocolate with Choc sauce and (lots) custard. Like I said they also gave her OJ but I took it away.

The nurses asked what Ks readings were on Day 1 and day 3 but on day of operation they insisted they use their tester. After above meal K went low as we had overestimated - her evening meal was then cauliflower cheese and more cauliflower (? - other veg option was baked beans which she didn't fancy with cauliflower cheese) very small salad and a banana - they also gave her OJ which I took away again. She had a reading of 14 an hour after eating - they insisted we test then - they then wanted us to test for ketones and were trying to find pee sticks - I explained we could test on our meter - no ketones of course and she had a reading of 9+ at 2 hours (more sensible time to test).

They also insisted it was necessary to test at 2am each night - interesting as lots of med proff (including Ks own diabetes team) insist this is not necessary (although lots of parents feel it is) Think it was routine as part of 'obs' but they didn't seem to know what to do with the numbers - K was 4.3 on their machine at 2am and she was nil by mouth after that so I decided to let her have a glucose tablet - turned out to be right decision (I think) as she was only 5.2 two hours later. I didn't tell nurses we had done this (they didn't ask) but did tell anesthatist (sp?) later who said 'that's fine'

Twitchy that's a nightmare - queuing for food in hospital 😱 Mind you I still don't know what was supposed to happen about breakfast - K didn't have any on day of operation, 2nd day nothing appeared by 8 (we'd seen no menu) so I asked nurse who said 'I can do her some toast (White) - does ^she^ want jam?' We were not offered specific 'Diabetic' menu or 'vegetarian' even though K is both but it was large portions of carbs and tiny amounts of veg/fruit that made me 😱 And of course that they had no idea about carb counting - I don't know how they thought I was working out her dose - they didn't ask - just wrote down what it was.
Nurses were lovely people but Diabetes? not a clue

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Best thing to do if you have a bad food experience in hospital is tell the diabetes team and the lead dietiction.
The response was helpful on both sides and changes were made. I made simple suggestions of measured scoops so that food could be worked out easier,plus carb counts listed on the menu.

I did this after being offered a pile of sludge on a plate for my lunch. No idea what it was or the carb count. So ambled down to the cafe at the main entrance, and bought a sandwich.
The final straw came for me when the nurse told me that no I could not test my blood sugar as it had been done an hour earlier. (I would get sore fingers)

I just said fine and put my sandwich in my bag. No test no insulin and no lunch as far as I was concerned. I'd had 500mg of steroids pumped into me over a 20 hour period and my pump was working overtime.
Nurse got her knickers in a twist and dumped the test stuff in front of me and said get on with it
I told my consultant of the exchange when I saw him a few months later. He was shocked made notes and said things will change. Anyone with diabetes in my care should be allowed to test as and when required esp when in hospital.( New to hospital)

 

[Dizzydi]

Interesting thread this.

I must say the hospital I ended up in where very strict in the food that was offered on the diabetic menu. Admittedly I stuck to porridge, soup and the odd brown bread sandwich, didn't really have appetite to eat much, but generally it was good.

I do however think the 'normal ' food choices where not very healthy and the combinations a bit weird!

One of my sister's did do me a nice food parcel the last day I was in hospital 🙂

 

[Twitchy]

I will always remember being with dad in hospital after his heart attack, with the BHF nurse talking to him about healthy lifestyle & diet choices. Cue meal trolley...all options came with chips & the main course was something like pizza or something similarly fatty!!! 🙄 Bless her, the nurse did look quite embarressed & frustrated & said she'd advised the hospital on how to improve the menu but they'd not listened. This was nearly ten yrs ago.

When I had the experience i described above the diabetic team did offer to get the dietician to come over at meal times to help me 'guestimate' - but to be honest the food was so grim looking (& I am NOT fussy lol) that it was a relief tohave an excuse not to eat it lol.

Ps - MM's photos of the food are scary - shudder!