Why are we so keen to criticise?

Last week it was reported in the media that inmates in prisons were served a healthier diet than patients in NHS hospitals. As my mother-in-law, aged 87, is currently residing in our local hospital, I considered very carefully the reports being made across the nation.

When Mike, my husband, and I visited his mum we enquired what she thought of the food. “Very good” she responded without hesitation. “I have a menu brought to me each morning so that I can select the lunch I want each day”. “Is it hot enough?” we asked. “Yes. Very hot. It’s a bit bland but there is always salt and pepper if you want to add to it”.

The next day she left me the menu to examine. It is obvious that the lunchtime menu is the main meal of the day and the following was on offer. Patients only had to tick what they wanted: Carrot and Leek soup, fruit juice, Turkey and seasoning sandwich on white bread, cheese and tomato sandwich on brown bread, sweet and sour chicken, corned beef hash, cauliflower and broccoli bake, gravy, creamed potatoes, boiled rice, swede, sweetcorn, choc chip sponge and custard, rice pudding, yogurt, ice cream, fresh fruit. Optional snacks also offered listed chocolate mousse, cheese and biscuits, blueberry muffin, or apple/orange/banana snack bar.

I do not believe anyone in hospital expects food to be haute cuisine but I think that is a pretty impressive menu by anyone’s reckoning and we should be grateful – as my mum-in-law is.

In prisons, inmates queue for their meals and within seconds of making their selection and having it placed on their plate, they are sitting at a table eating it. In hospitals, it is very different. The caterers have to pre-plan each serving according to the patient’s individual requirements, deliver it several floors up in many cases, place it on the bed table of each patient (who are pretty poorly otherwise they wouldn’t be in hospital), and make sure the right one is delivered to the correct patient, plus it has to be hot when it arrives!

As in all businesses and establishments, some are better than others, so I can only speak from personal experience. But in the hospital where my mum-in-law is being cared for, they deserve top marks. The nurses are friendly and efficient, the doctors attentive and I believe she is receiving the very best of care – and food. So, let’s stop having a go at the NHS. Nobody said it was perfect but with all of my personal experiences and now, this current one, I have nothing but admiration for everyone concerned.

As a nation I wish we could be more complimentary rather than critical. Let us be very grateful for what we have and be proud of it.