NHS=Negligent Health Service

Soldato
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This is the problem, service should available to all. Indirect way to monitise, therefore adding restrictions. This is what I dislike from the whole set up.

Everyone should be paid a wage and the building owned by the NHS. Probably be cheaper and reduce none medical staff.
The service is available to all - via the hospital.

The NHS couldn't afford to take over primary care. Not only the property and buildings, but it remains very efficient (despite the lack of availability). I would quite happily be employed directly by the NHS. I'd get paid for my 34 hours, and I wouldn't have to do the 15+ I do for free. Partners are even more, most work into the night daily to keep their practice going. Gone are the days of very rich GPs.

The NHS is broken. Stay healthy.
 
Soldato
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Are you joking? That's a tiny portion of reheated slop. An NHS hospital should be better than this, particularly considering the amount of money spent on public healthcare.
Yes, I'm sure. It certainly isn't the massively over sized portions that people cram into their faces at home.

I'd welcome your suggestions on how better to meet the catering demands of a large hospital.
 
Soldato
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The NHS is broken. Stay healthy.
Or at least get private health insurance and even then, hope you don't have anything life-threatening and especially not chronic.

Wish my siblings had listened to me years back and got insurance for themselves and their kids - every experience with the NHS our family has had recently has been terrible with the exception of one - currently ongoing so there's still time.

The only consistently excellent experience I have is with the practice nurses at my local surgery. I tend to see them instead of the GP for anything minor.

As for that meal above - I had worse at school :D I'm guessing catering in hospitals just gets given to the lowest bidder.
 
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Man of Honour
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Yes, I'm sure. It certainly isn't the massively over sized portions that people cram into their faces at home.

I'd welcome your suggestions on how better to meet the catering demands of a large hospital.

Also forgetting the fact that even when ill or traumatised patients leave most of the food even on tiny portions.
Even I can't eat a lot when I'm in a hospital bed because you just don't fancy it..
 
Soldato
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Also forgetting the fact that even when ill or traumatised patients leave most of the food even on tiny portions.
Even I can't eat a lot when I'm in a hospital bed because you just don't fancy it..
Yeah, the last couple of times after surgery and even with the less traumatic camera jobs, I didn't feel like eating much at all.

Just walking into a hospital makes me lose my appetite. :D
 
Caporegime
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Yes, I'm sure. It certainly isn't the massively over sized portions that people cram into their faces at home.

It's not even good quality food.

I'd welcome your suggestions on how better to meet the catering demands of a large hospital.

Step 1: give NHS hospitals enough money to provide decent food
Step 2: hire a nutritionist
Step 3: hire a dietician
Step 4: follow their instructions

The Tories committed to improving hospital food 4 years ago.

Millions of NHS patients and staff will benefit from tastier, healthier and better-quality meals following an independent review of hospital food, led by a panel of advisers including chef and restaurateur Prue Leith.

Published today, the review makes recommendations on how NHS trusts can prioritise food safety and provide more nutritious meals to both staff and patients.

The government has today announced it will establish an expert group of NHS caterers, dietitians and nurses to take forward the recommendations made in the report and decide on next steps

Doesn't look like they've made much progress.
 
Caporegime
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and as I said above, you could give patients A La Carte but most of it would be left.

So you have the dietician on board to determine appropriate portion sizes. Keeping in mind that some patients will need more food than others, depending on their condition and recovery status.

The bottom line is that NHS hospitals should not be hurling frozen slop on plates and pretending it's a suitably nutritious meal. Hospitals are not hotels or restaurants, but they should at least provide meals that are fit for purpose. This is taxpayers' money they're spending, where has it all gone? Middle managers and CEOs, you can bet on that.
 
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Caporegime
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So you have the dietician on board to determine appropriate portion sizes. Keeping in mind that some patients will need more food than others, depending on their condition and recovery status.

The bottom line is that NHS hospitals should not be hurling frozen slop on plates and pretending it's a suitably nutritious meal. Hospitals are not hotels or restaurants, but they should at least provide meals that are fit for purpose. This is taxpayers' money they're spending, where has it all gone? Middle managers and CEOs, you can bet on that.

Every patient has individual needs, how is a dietician supposed to determine that for the thousands of people that can be in some hospitals?
 
Soldato
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It's not even good quality food

Step 1: give NHS hospitals enough money to provide decent food
Step 2: hire a nutritionist
Step 3: hire a dietician
Step 4: follow their instructions

...
lol, I'm sure that would go down well with most - having to eat a recommended diet.

But back in the real world, do you have an estimate of the resources required to provide what you are suggesting?
 
Man of Honour
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So you have the dietician on board to determine appropriate portion sizes. Keeping in mind that some patients will need more food than others, depending on their condition and recovery status.

This would mean every hospital would have a massive team of Dieticians just for ordinary patients.
I get many cases where Dieticians have to get on a patients journey but these are the patients who really need it not somebody who has come in with a full knee replacement.
 
Commissario
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Panting like a fiend
It's not even good quality food.



Step 1: give NHS hospitals enough money to provide decent food
Step 2: hire a nutritionist
Step 3: hire a dietician
Step 4: follow their instructions

The Tories committed to improving hospital food 4 years ago.



Doesn't look like they've made much progress.
The problem as has been said is that you'd need a huge team of people to do the meals...

They already hire people to work out portion sizes, what should go in them etc and offer a range of options.
The problem is your average hospital might need 500-1000 meals three times a day, every day for people ranging from toddlers, to the infirm, and with religious and personal tastes that vary massively.
And they're trying to get those meals to patients at roughly the same times every day across the hospital so that the other departments can continue to run on time and do things like tests, operations and medicines at the right times, unless you put a proper kitchen basically next to each ward and fully staff it with the dietician doing an assessment for everyone on their ward a couple of times a day it's not going to be easy.

My father was in for two weeks and whilst the food wasn't to his taste*, they really did try with multiple options every meal time and the patients could have multiple things, for example for one meal he had soup with rolls and sandwiches, as well as a yogurt or a trifle etc.
And to give an idea of what they have to try to cater for, on the bay of 6 beds he was in for the first week there was a bolshy ex prisoner (with hospital security for at least one day) for whom nothing was right, a guy who couldn't take solids (liquid diet), an older indian gent who struggled with more solid food, a guy who couldn't eat certain things (restricted diet), a massive guy seemed to really enjoy his food, and a Sikh



*He's a Geordie war baby, lifelong smoker with false teeth. He wasn't introduced to flavour until his teens and wasn't too fond of it:p, now after 60+ years of smoking his taste buds are shot and with his false teeth he doesn't like things he has to chew too much or are crunchy (did I mention he doesn't like using Fixodent?;)), he's a nightmare to feed at home:p (his idea of a treat for a meal is a proper spam fitter, but it must be piping hot, fortunately we've got a good chippy about 4 minutes away and a cool box that has a "warm function").
 
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Man of Honour
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unless you put a proper kitchen basically next to each ward and fully staff it with the dietician doing an assessment for everyone on their ward a couple of times a day it's not going to be easy.

Sankari : "Yes this is actually what should be done at every hospital, the wards own kitchen with a couple of qualified dieticians, I'll pay for it"

In 14 years I've never had one case on my desk for crap food or food poisoning so that isn't bad.
 
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Caporegime
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The problem as has been said is that you'd need a huge team of people to do the meals...

I don't see why. You'd just need proper guidance, and people willing to follow it. It seems the NHS has decided that's too hard, so defrosted slop is what patients get.

They already hire people to work out portion sizes, what should go in them etc and offer a range of options.
The problem is your average hospital might need 500-1000 meals three times a day, every day for people ranging from toddlers, to the infirm, and with religious and personal tastes that vary massively.
And they're trying to get those meals to patients at roughly the same times every day across the hospital so that the other departments can continue to run on time and do things like tests, operations and medicines at the right times, unless you put a proper kitchen basically next to each ward and fully staff it with the dietician doing an assessment for everyone on their ward a couple of times a day it's not going to be easy.

None of this explains the poor quality of the food in the photo posted earlier. Other countries do better, why can't the UK? Look at the food in Japanese hospitals, for example.

Sankari : "Yes this is actually what should be done at every hospital, the wards own kitchen with a couple of qualified dieticians, I'll pay for it"

I didn't say a ward with its own kitchen and a couple of dieticians. The Tories had the right idea with the scheme I cited earlier. It just needs to be implemented properly.

In 14 years I've never had one case on my desk for crap food or food poisoning so that isn't bad.

'We didn't poison anyone, so that's a win.' Wow.
 
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