How to maintain hospital food standards

When you think of hospital food, what comes to mind - meat, watery curry, peas and carrots? It's no secret that the meals served to patients haven't been a hit in terms of taste. There's even a photo blog that invites people to submit snapshots of hospital meals from all over the world, and while some look pretty tasty, most are sad, unidentifiable variations on stereotypical hospital fare.
And while you'd think that meals designed for people who are sick should follow the latest nutritional guidelines, that's often been far from the case. Studies have also found that hospital food may have lower levels of nutrients like vitamin C, perhaps because the food is heated to a high temperature in order to retain warmth when delivered to patient rooms some time later.
A new movement is on aiming to replace bland, unhealthy food with nutritious five-star meals on patients' plates. But lately, the image of bland, unhealthy hospital meals has been shifting. At many hospitals, room service is a growing trend. Patients who choose room service can select such options as grilled chicken, sea fish, or tofu-vegetable, served by staff. Wondering if your local facility has made these kinds of dietary changes? Before you or a loved one will be checking in, it may be a good idea to call ahead and speak to a dietitian or food service director about the menu and what's on offer.
Under the traditional tray-line model, most patients get the same hospital food at the same time, whether they want it or not. As a result, some patients will choose not to eat their food. Some patients may even have family members bring food from home.
We should arrange a healthier food programme for all hospitals. "The menu should be made based on comfort food, as well as local seasonal products, vegetables, fruits. We want it to be fresh, and we want it to be local.
We should offer a daily lower-calorie healthy meal and children's healthy meal in their cafeterias and on patients' menus. Those meals must meet specific food and nutrition standards, and cafeteria meals must be priced less than or equal to other meals. We can remove all fryers and deep-fried products. Should increase the amount of fruits and veggies they offer. Every hospital should serve more healthful beverages, such as water, 100% fruit juice and vegetable juice, unflavored low-fat and fat-free milk, tea and coffee.
Hospitals should be leading the charge to improve nutrition standards for patients, staff and family members and the public that they serve. Don't get me wrong, the cafeteria still serves pizza, coke, and other food you don't expect to find in a facility treating people with heart, kidney, and other health problems. Change comes very slowly, even in institutions allegedly built to keep us well. But I was heartened to find that people could make healthy choices - and plenty of them for lunch or dinner.
Unfortunately I can report from recent personal experience that in some hospitals food remains truly awful. If you've been in a hospital this will likely not be news to you. The menu also will offer food that's cooked healthier. This change reflects our commitment to patient and family-centred care and service to promote the health and well-being of our patients.
Cafeteria offerings in children's hospitals could also be healthier. Hospital fare getting a nutrition makeover, many hospitals is starting to offer healthier menu items, more fruits and veggies.
Sometimes when you're sick though - hell, I'd venture to say especially when you're not well - having something healthy, comforting, and aesthetically pleasing to eat is critical. I had the opportunity to watch in-patient food going out on trays. Clearly, there are limitations on what hospitals can do in food service.
Remember, patients are experts on things they know, like of food, food service and housekeeping and they will then judge everything else they know nothing about…like clinical care. We should give a makeover to ensure patients have tasty choices which can address patient's individual nutritional requirements.

The writer is Nutritionist at BCA Dept of Labaid Cardiac Hospital. Email: fahmida@labaidgroup.com