Here’s a topic I’ve thought about posting for a while but a recent experience convinced me to write something: hospital food.

A couple of weeks ago I was a patient in the Royal Adelaide Hospital, undergoing surgery for an infected gallbladder. I arrived at emergency via ambulance at approx. 3.00am Tuesday morning, and eventually went into surgery at 3.30pm the following day.

I hadn’t eaten anything since 6.30pm Monday night, and the first full meal I was able to eat at the hospital was Thursday lunch time – one hour before I was discharged.

This was the plate of food I was given, along with pumpkin soup and some sort of gelatinous dessert.

I was starving. I was so looking forward to some food.

I took a spoonful of the meat mixture and put it in my mouth. I bit down and it just coated the inside of my mouth with that slimy fatty feeling. I spat it out.

Then I tried mixing some rice with the meat sauce. The rice was crispy, probably dried out, and crunchy. And the veg was barely warm.

The lady in the bed next to me couldn’t eat hers either.

The pumpkin soup was lovely, but I couldn’t make out what the dessert was.

When people are sick and their body is recovering from trauma, I think it’s important to provide good nutrition and edible food. I really hope it improves in the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Since I’ve got home from hospital, I’ve been very thankful for my Mum making me lots of chicken and vegetable soup! That’s exactly what a patient needs for a good recovery, not whatever slop they’re serving at our local hospital.