Hospital Catering Exposed

I'm not someone who regularly takes, and posts photos of meals I'm about to eat. But while I was in hospital recently, I just had to take these photos, to expose the new and disgraceful food, that is offered up to our sick or frail, recuperating patients in our local hospitals. I will also be writing a letter to our Local Papers and the hospital CEOs about the Catering Service and what it is doing, not only to the patients, but to the catering staff, who take the orders and deliver the food. More on that later.

This was what appeared for my lunch on Day One of my Recuperation from Rehipification, at Murwillumbah Hospital.

I'd ordered Chicken with gravy, Steamed Potato, Roasted Pumpkin !

I got this ! A most unappetising bowl of frozen reheated food. There was actually a larger slice of chicken hidden beneath the gravy and chunks, but the vegies were not as I'd ordered them, and as was written on the docket.

The kind woman who had taken my order, asked me to report back to her if I received what I ordered as the "stupid computer system, doesn't work properly ! And the WiFi keeps dropping out ! Why can't we use the old pen and paper system ? !!!" she moaned. She was clearly very frustrated with the new system, as was the next woman I met when I was transferred up to Tweed Heads Hospital. More on that later,

Here's Liffy having a taste, her expressions speak for us as we tried to identify the flavours of the Pumpkin Slurry and Potato Glue

The Pumpkin Slurry had a weird sour/off taste that I couldn't quite identify & the Potato Glue had a Lemon?y taste to it. Neither were very nice at all, and definitely not Steamed or Roasted Like I was offered, and like the Docket showed as having being ordered. The veggies that came with it were tasteless, limp, frozen and lifeless. Thankfully there was some hot water for my sachet of Miso Soup with Wakame, that I took in myself, and I'd dry-roasted some strips of Tempeh. I may have mixed it all together and eaten it down as I was quite hungry, having been Nil By Mouth all the day before, until I got some old cheese sandwiches after missing dinner, which I'd promptly lost, after a nauseas reaction to the Anti-biotic fed into my drip.

I'd ordered a desert, Chocolate Lava Pudding and Coconut Ice-cream. Lucky I ordered the GF ice-cream as the gluggy, heavy, over-sweet and dry pudding would have been inedible without it.

Dinner

I chose Curried Peas and Tofu, I thought the curry would at least give me some flavour, but it was dry and lifeless.

The veggies limp frozen tasteless. Rice is something I am trying not eat in my current 'allowed' foods, and would have been a 'naughty' treat, but even it didn't entice me to finish it off, despite being hungry.

So, thankfully I made a cup of miso soup with one of my cups of hot water, which I spooned over the 3 sections of food. Sprinkled it all with two packets of Cracked Pepper, and mixed it all together. Much more palatable !

Yet the Rice and Tofu were still so bland that I just picked out the colourful parts leaving all of this.

Desert Looks OK ....... but despite labeling what Allergens it may contain, they fail to label the ingredients which I thought was mandatory. It may be an Orange with a bit of Almond Meal being OrangeAlmond, but it was also extremely heavy, (with GF Flour?) gluggy, dry and over-sweet.

I couldn't eat it all as I ran out of Coconut Ice-cream, to wash it down with.

The following night up at Tweed Hospital, I again missed ordering dinner as I was again on Nil by Mouth, while doctors awaited the results of my CT Scan, I had to be ready for Emergency Spinal Surgery in case I had swelling/bleeding occurring at the site of my Spinal Anaesthesia ! The doctors were being super alert to assess the reasons for the numbness on three toes and part of my foot and my inability to lift my toes.

So some delicious fresh Egg Sandwiches were found for me, when dinner arrived for my fellow ward mates, and I was 'cleared' for food ! CT Scan was clear Thank Goddess!

and I finished my meal with a 'Most Delicious' Orange Almond Cake, brought in by my friends, Michael and Joy, who had come to visit me at Murwillumbah Hosp. arriving 5 minutes before my Ambo Transport came to collect me, for my Road Trip to Tweed Hospital. Mic gave me some glorious Yellow Flowers (Gerberas?) and Joy gave me a piece of Orange Almond Cake from Wild Thyme Bakery. Which was a far cry from the piece, masquerading as the same, the night before.

Thank goodness I took in a small array of food and health supplements to assist my healing. From top left, Coconut Water, Cacao/Turmeric/Carob powder, Honey. MIso Sachets, Mixed Nuts, Black Garlic, Activated Hemp Balm with Orange and Basil, Homeopathic Arnica and Hypericum, Wild Thyme's OrangeAlmond Cake more Homeopathics in Moon purse, Dry Roasted Tempeh in a ziplock bag.

So what did I do for breakfasts ? (Wish I took a photo !) I gave the Charge Nurse a good laugh up at Tweed when I mixed up my green Spirulina, Burdock, Barley Grass and Dulse powder with Coconut Water, which I then used instead of Milk with the Weetbix on the menu, plus a handful of Roasted Unsalted Nuts to give the green slurry, some texture. The nurse had once 'over-done' the Spirulina in her morning smoothies and now cannot stand the thought of it. I told her that if the Scrambled Eggs I'd ordered at Murwillumbah the day before, hadn't been tasty enough, I had thought of making 'Green Eggs No Ham', with my powder, and gave the whole ward, a good laugh.

Both hospitals had great nurses and staff and I had mostly good interactions with them. With one exception, one nurse at Murwillumbah, was either over-worked?, sick of nursing?, or suffering some trauma in her home-life? I didn't feel like I could ask her for help, as she looked so exhausted. I didn't get nice care from her at all, and was very grateful when she clocked off and the friendly charge nurse took over, in my hour of need in the middle of the night, when I awoke from my very first 2 hour sleep, totally discombobulated.

I didn't get any sleep whatsoever the first night, as I had two 'mis-behaving' Pico Dressing Pumps, that I named 'Thing One' and 'Thing Two' ('twas a rather Dr Zuess time in hospital). Now, Thing One and Thing Two were Vacuum Pumps that were attached inside the two long dressings over my 50 staples. There were also two other tubes, draining the wound area, for the first day or so. But it was Thing One and Thing Two, that were the cause of my sleeplessness, that first night and even all the next day, 'tho it was a very busy day in the ward on Day Two, and I was also suffering the allergic itching to the Morphine, I seem to remember experiencing, last post-surgery too.

Thing One & Thing Two, were apparently only supposed to make occasional short "Bleu's" ..... These two however, made continuous "Bleurrrrrp Bleurrrrp's" very loudly, meaning they were not in fact working properly, (not that I 'knew' this at the time) 'tho' the 'not so nice' nurse did, and told me that when they went silent, I had to check them, and turn them back on, to a green flashing light instead of orange flashing. She left them where they were, out of hands reach, so everytime they went silent, I had to raise the bed, find the 'bleeping' things, press the orange button, whereon they would both start up like bagpipes! Settling back into the continuous bleating like sheep or cows saying "feed me" ! Subsequently I had no sleep.

I later realised I could move them up closer to my sight and hand, as it became every half hour that I needed to turn them on again or one in particular. Earlier it had been 1 to 1 &1/2 hours between silences. Everyone else in the ward had to suffer the noise too, and it could have been muffled by a pillow, a solution a nurse up at Tweed came up with, or they could have tried to adjust the angle of the tubes, thereby fixing the suction/vacuum action and had them working correctly. I'm so glad they decided to disconnect them on Friday morning up at Tweed and that I didn't have to wear them home for the full 7 days, till the batteries went flat ! They were impressive new innovative dressings and my vigilance may have assisted some of the 'vacuum' benefits to my wound, healing faster, I don't know. I also woke up to a massaging wrap, on my other leg which was great, much better than having to wear compression stockings, like another hip surgery patient under a different surgeon, in my ward at Tweed, had to wear. It heats and massages your leg, keeping the circulation going,

Very nice to wake up to this. I'd been wondering the day before, what these little round units were , sitting on the window ledge in the hall, in front of my 'Window to the Outside' .

I enjoyed being able to see the bright blue sky behind a bright pink flowering tree, above the sun-drenched brickwall of the world outside.

The little things that make a difference ......

So back to the issue about the Food they make available for patients either sick or recovering from major surgery. The hospitals no longer make any of the Hot Meals. They have been 'contracted out' to private companies in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide (if I remember correctly). There is a Computer Ordering system, that constantly 'plays up' or cannot connect to the WiFi ! There is a colourful double-sided menu with pictures and descriptions, that I was only allowed to see on my final day (up at Tweed) I didn't even get offered some of the dishes 'tho my dietary preferences should have included them.

At first, I didn't stipulate any dietary preference ie Gluten Free or Dairy Free, as it is not critical for me for a few days. I used to be vegetarian (since 16), but have recently started to eat meat again for health reasons, so I thought 'Just be open' and you can select from the full menu available. Then, as I waited for my delayed surgery, I had it changed to 'No Beef, Pork, or Lamb', Late that first night, or early in the wee hours, while talking with the good charge nurse, she helped me change it again, going back & forth a couple of times so that I would get Dairy Milk instead of Soy for my cereal, (before I thought about using my Spirulina mix as my Milk lol), anyway after all her effort in finding out how to get the right result, I received Soy Milk for the cereal (which was what I didn't want), and Dairy for the Tea or Coffee, which I hadn't even ordered. I only wanted Hot Water for my own beverages, Miso Soup and Cacao/Turmeric/Carob, Yummo.

As boring, bland, lifeless or over sweet as the food was, it was not the reason I feel compelled to write letters to the Local Papers and the CEOs of both hospitals, 'tho the quality of the food and the lack of freshness will be mentioned. It is for the staff who have to take orders, serve this food and receive all the complaints. The second woman I was giving my orders to, came across as very gruff and not very friendly as she reeled off the choices for the day. I'm not sure why we weren't given the pictorial menu she had under her tablet device, maybe because she was running short of copies, as was the case the next day, when she left them with us for a short while, when she rushed out mid-way thru taking my order ; something about WiFi connection playing up again.

When she returned on that second day, we got chatting about the whole mess that is now the state of catering at Tweed and Murwillumbah Hospitals.

What really got me incensed to write about this, is that this poor woman confided in me, after I told her I was going to do a Pictorial Food Expose on Social Media. She told me that this was the second day in a row, that she hadn't cried at work ! She told me that she used to Sing all day at work ! She is really looking forward to retiring in 2 years after working there for 36 or so years, as she finds herself in tears, for one reason or another Every Day, with this new food system. She wishes it was like it used to be, with a paper order sheet that she'd leave and collect. She was so grateful for me saying I would write letters about it, it really changed her day.

My fellow ward mate and I heard her talking across the way in the opposite ward a while later, and 'tho she started her monologue recital in the same tone, initially, we both heard the lightness return to her tone and expression, when she 'remembered' that 'someone' had 'listened to her. Someone had heard what she was saying. Someone had learnt about how horrid her job has become. Someone was going to write about it and send it to the CEOs. I will ! I don't know that it will make any difference in how the hospital operates. I don't know if it will make the Contracted Caterers pick up their quality and flavour and freshness in their food. All I know is that if nobody says anything, nothing will change. We all wait for Somebody to do Something to fix things, well we are all Somebody, and we can affect how things are run. People Power is quite easy, to start changing things. All it takes to get the ball rolling is one person speaking out.

Tomorrow, I will use parts of this blog post to compose both my letters to local papers and to the CEOs of the Hospitals.

An interesting point I learnt from the 3 women sharing my ward at Tweed, was that like Muwillumbah Hospital, Tweed Hospital has a reputation for kind, caring, friendly staff. Much nicer than they have received when they patients at John Flynn Private Hospital, despite having to pay for it. I know we all loved our 2 charge nurses who were young and vibrant, happy, cheerful and funny.

One last thing, I must mention, is the two women in the beds opposite me, who had both been in since the Sunday, Margaret just turned 91, who still is quite capably living on her own, in a flat surrounded by caring friends, and could have been allowed home earlier, if she'd just agreed to have someone come for a home visit and see how her support network operated. She is an adorable, strong, small woman who I watched sleep like a little bird in a nest of blue blankets, with her 6 broken ribs and sternum, she was in much pain, but very very stubborn and insistent on trying to do everything herself. Beside her was Joan? who was looking out for Margaret, in support of her requests despite the pair having only just met 5 days before. Here they are fresh from the shower, looking like new women, about to be released home. My yellow flowers in Joan's vase as the hospital was short on vases, so I got to see them across the way. It's amazing who quickly ward mates can become friends or even 'family', living in that strange world of a hospital ward.

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