vegan food in hospitals?

[Digital Ghost]

Be careful with the mashed potatoe - at the hospital I was in it was like that smash stuff and contained milk powder.

They always had soup but could never tell patients what kind it was until someone ate it.

[harpy]

They always had soup but could never tell patients what kind it was until someone ate it.

:eek: Makes you wonder how they made it then ;)

[WildWitch]

The potatoes were normal boiled potatoes cause i had to mash them myself. At least that way i knew they didnt put butter in them. Could taste lots of salt on them though, i dont like salt on food.

[bradders]

Bolton hospital (this was before I was vegan) always had a huge menu and I remember there always being something vegan on the menu for both lunch and dinner and it did used to say that if there were specific requests and requirements these would be catered for subject to it meeting nutritional requirements. They also used to have rice milk for tea rather than soya milk. However I had to use King's in south London this year and as I'd been in A & E for more than 8 hours at this point and would be in orthopedics for some time more so I needed breakfast. I had the option of dry bread and dry cereal with a portion of orange juice as they had no vegan spreads or milk alternatives and even the costa coffee didn't have soya milk. So that's what I had to eat, no choice really. I'm sorry but a hospital of that size must have dozens of vegan or at least lactose intolerant patients at any one time it's ridiculous that they don't cater for us and that even the overpriced cafe has no soya milk, completely shocking all told.
the hardest thing for me is that my family all live really far away and most of the people I know in London are really busy so I couldn't go ringing them up at that hour "because I'm hungry" just wouldn't have been appropriate really.
I think all hospital catering should be like Bolton's, in house, professional, separate from the nursing staff (on the whole) and caters for all needs with good healthy choices. Apparently there are other hospitals that are that good and it is improving, it's just a shame that so many aren't yet.
P.S. vegans who have been vegan for more that six months are actually able to state that they are lactose intolerant and 12 months for meat and eggs on the basis of "enzymatic reduction" there's a fancy phrase for you. If it is down as an intolerance then a lot more care is taken and steps taken to get appropriate food (with time).

[WildWitch]

I cant see any hospital ever being like that here in Wales Bradders. Even though the hospital i was in is a main hospital serving South and Mid Wales they just dont have the funding, expertese or even the patient demand as they would probably have in England. It is very behind the times up here in every sense, youve heard me whinge about the health service, dont even start me on the education system up here.

[bradders]

well at least you guys are getting free prescriptions soon

[WildWitch]

I do anyway as im on meds for life for my dodgy thyroid. I really feel giving prescriptions to everyone for free isnt such a good thing, i mean wheres the funding coming from for that when they cant even serve up a decent meal in the hospitals.

[bradders]

hyper or hypo if you don't mind me asking, mum's hypo and I'm hyper (I don't take anything though) don't pay either on account of low income but I hate people falling through cracks and not getting what they need when they need it because of bureaucracy so I think it's better that it comes from the precept or other taxation so that everyone gets completely free healthcare at the point of use. Just my opinion.

[WildWitch]

hyper or hypo if you don't mind me asking, mum's hypo and I'm hyper (I don't take anything though) don't pay either on account of low income but I hate people falling through cracks and not getting what they need when they need it because of bureaucracy so I think it's better that it comes from the precept or other taxation so that everyone gets completely free healthcare at the point of use. Just my opinion.

Hypo. If your hyper you may one day need meds cause it can lead to so many syptoms that can be life threatening. .

[bradders]

I sadly know that all too well, just the side effects of drugs for hypothyroidism can be quite severe and thankfully as yet aren't needed in my case, one day though I know I might need them or face huge risks.

[WildWitch]

Im lucky that iv had no side affects from my meds and have felt better since taking them. I must admit i put it off for months though due to my vegan beliefs, tried alternative therapies but nothing worked so i had to give in as my symptoms were too severe.

A doctor in the end scared the life out of me by telling me my choices, take the meds or get really really ill. I gave in and took the meds.

[mjnewbould]

Now this is a bit of a weird thing for me to say - but I sort of know a bit about getting things sorted in the NHS and if anyone ever wanted me to have a go and help them I would certainly try. I can -for example - try speaking directly to the consultant looking after them and find out the local policies re vegans etc - seems a bit odd of me to say this and of course I could fail miserably - but I'd have a go if anyone ever wanted me to!

[cobweb]

Now this is a bit of a weird thing for me to say - but I sort of know a bit about getting things sorted in the NHS and if anyone ever wanted me to have a go and help them I would certainly try. I can -for example - try speaking directly to the consultant looking after them and find out the local policies re vegans etc - seems a bit odd of me to say this and of course I could fail miserably - but I'd have a go if anyone ever wanted me to!


You are a very valuable asset to veganism and to this forum! :thumbsup:

[bradders]

could not agree more

[harpy]

Yes, that's a great offer mjnewbould!

[harpy]

When visiting my local hospital (St George's in Tooting) today I finally remembered to have a look through the menu book thing for vegan options. They don't have anything actually marked vegan as far as I can see, but they have a range of "cultural" menus, one of which was designated "Indian vegetarian" or some such.

Some of the dishes on that were obviously not vegan but some of them looked as if they might well be. Normally all the dishes are served in rotation on a weekly or fortnightly basis but there was a note to say you could arrange to have any dish on any day. So that might be an option worth investigating if it's available. (Though if only one of the dishes turns out to be vegan it could get a bit boring...)

St George's is admittedly in a very multi-cultural area, which probably helps.

[pusskins]

Well, I got the date through for my op - next Tuesday! Eep! I go in to hospital on the Monday, get op-ed on on Tuesday, and then should be out on Wednesday.

I reiterated the vegan thing when I had my pre-op assessment appointment. Duly noted, shouldn't be a problem, but I do have to tell them again when I get to the ward. I'm going to take the information booklet I got from the Vegan Society a couple of weeks ago.

We still haven't had any e-mail back from the hospital from the many weeks ago we tried to contact them!

Will let you know how I get on :)

[bradders]

good luck

[Gorilla]

hope it all goes ok, Pusskins :faint_smilie:

[Shrapnel]

Aw, I hope it goes well too and wish you the best of luck.

[Quantum Mechanic]

I haven't stayed at a hospital overnight as far as I know - but I have heard of hospitals in the US having a McDonalds in them (!) - that's not good for the health of anyone, human or not.

[Shrapnel]

I haven't stayed at a hospital overnight as far as I know - but I have heard of hospitals in the US having a McDonalds in them (!) - that's not good for the health of anyone, human or not.

Yeah, I've seen McDonald's in hospitals... I think even in Warsaw (it was actually kinda surreal).

[mjnewbould]

part of Alder hey Children's Hospitals is the Ronald McDonald Wing! (I presume its the same McDonald but I might be wrong). I note that our Trust appears to have won the Vegan Society award for good catering! (Central Manchester)

[harpy]

I think Ronald McDonald houses are sort of residential wings added to hospitals for families of sick children to stay in http://www.rmhc.org.uk/whoarewe/faqs.php They receive funding from some philanthropic trust linked to the hamburger chain. (Reminds me of that thing about mixed feelings being when you see your mother-in-law driving over a cliff - in your new car :D)

Anyway I don't think they sell burgers in them so that's something! Having a branch of McDonald's in a hospital is a different matter.

ETA all the best, Pusskins - and hope your efforts to line up vegan grub pay off!

[bradders]

Same mcdonald, they have a. Haritable trust that meant my aunt was able to stay with my cousin when she was in hospital. The have a mcdonalds at Guy's hospital in London. Not exactly the right messaage of health etc