I have been in and out of hospital quite a lot over the past 25 years or so. I am now disabled suffering from Gout/Arthritis. This can affect from one joint to every major/minor one and any permutation in between. As I live alone, some attacks mean that I just cannot take care of myself, cook, get about and so on.
Anyway, I end up in hospital until the limb (s) get better. The staff change the water jug twice a day and visitors bring in coke and orange juice. There is always plenty of milk on the wards too. However, I have always had to ask for drinks to be poured or milk brought to me. Never has anybody bothered to ensure that I am having enough fluids during a day, unless I was on a chart. As the quickest way to get better is to expel the uric acid I would think that pouring fluids into me would be a good move!!
The food in my local hospital is crap!! Quiche Lorraine and various other cheap per portion crap. They cook it all in a central kitchen and then transport it, to the wards, in heated box trolleys. The food is devoid of any moisture. Breakfast is the only good meal as it consists of orange juice and cereal!! I generally survived on mashed potatoes and butter. Not much to build up one's strength. Had I been alone, without visitors, I can understand why people starve in hospitals. If they do happen to notice that you are not eating they force you onto high fibre drinks. With visitors, I was okay, having sandwiches, hot rolls with bacon, sausage,burgers At night I could have a curry or a fish supper brought in. The staff did not mind but I felt sorry for the others who could not get good food. On my last sojourn, all brought in food was banned!! Why, says I? Well if you get food poisoning, you could blame us. They were in a panic about germs. Now, takeaway food is cooked at high enough temperatures to kill germs and there are hygiene laws. Sandwiches, made at home, may be a different matter, but it all seemed very petty to me. Germs can get inside hospitals, very easily.
Every car, bus, lorry,van or ambulance can bring them in on equipment, packaging,tyres, bodywork and the drivers. Any outside clothing can harbour germs. Any open window can allow airborne germs in. So I think that food brought in is much safer than these wheelie bin food trolleys. Bias, who me?
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