Denia hospital is brand new.It is a very attractive building on the inside.Large open spaces in the entrance halls. A really good cafeteria, where the food actually looks appetising. However the food served to the patients on the wards is not often appetising and masses of this food must be thrown away at every mealtime. Has anyone counted the cost of such waste? I have watched tray after tray of food go back on the trolly only to be thrown away.
After a frugal and thoroughly un-nutritious breakfast the catering staff, all very pleasant and dressed in trendy black gear, come around with a mid-morning snack of sugar laden biscuits and a drink. Not really necessary. Most patients have drinks of water or juice by their beds.The staff who deliver the snack are not important for social contact as they flit in and out of each room at a rate of knots, with a hasty “hasta luego”. This is time to be saved and the money used to bolster the next meal of the day, lunch.
The biscuits served for this snack were always the same and once again they were not very appetising.They certainly did not “tickle” the taste buds and once again were either binned or placed back on the tray.More waste.If it is desirable to serve a snack at this time then surely there should be a good reason for it and the quality of what is served should be high.Once again, high in quality protein, low in sugar and maybe with some added vitamins. Surely such a biscuit could be sourced at a reasonable cost. Why is it that hospitals never think that extra nutrients are worthy of patients who are unwell?
Hospitals need to acquire a reputation for healthy foods, for improving the health of the patients who live within their walls. In fact the opposite is true. Family try to counter the affects of the poor nutrition by carrying in their own food for their loved ones, not trusting the poor cuisine of the hospital catering services.
