Denia is a town on the Costa Blanca .The new hospital is situated outside the town and is run by a private organisation, Marina Salud .The interesting thing about hospitals is that they rarely get the food right! Food is such an important part of getting well.At least “nutrition “is such an important part of getting well.Why is it that this aspect of hospital life should be so dire.It just shouldn’t be about providing something to fill the patient up.It is about the nutrients in those foods which will help the patients on the road to recovery and good health. When you are a patient you rarely want to eat a lot. Your appetite is jaded for all sorts of reasons. You want to have something that will whet that appetite. Do you get such fare?….No, is generally the answer.
When you are recovering then breakfast is an important meal. After the poking and prodding you look forward to it. In Denia, breakfast was a small brioche with a tiny pack of butter and jam plus a cup of milky luke warm coffee.Not very appetising to look at and not very nutritious either.Maybe a special drio entering a vein with a well sourced balance of nutrients would be a better breakfast !Why not a small bowl of chopped fresh fruit, a yoghurt, ( preferably natural), plus a wholemeal roll with butter and honey. Good tastes and colourful to boot. Maybe a protein shake with fresh fruit blitzed in it –easy to digest and nutritious to boot. Surely a good nutritious breakfast cannot be beyond the budgets of the company which supplies Denia hospital and the many catering firms which supply hospitals throughout the world. The waste which is thrown out at each mealtime from every hospital should be assessed .The cost of such waste should be calculated. The effects of such poor nutrition on the patients should also be evaluated . Money down the drain which , with a little thought,would be totally unnecessary.
