Hospital food is back on the media menu with nutrition experts voicing concerns in the press that with further cost cutting patient health will be put at risk. Some are even claiming that patients may die.
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11299363 Various news stories include meal descriptions and photos, all reigniting the debate on hospital meal quality.
Adding to the debate columnist Shelley Bridgeman posed the question: Why do hospitals serve free food?
www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11301516 "One talkback radio caller wondered why hospitals even needed to feed people. The reasoning was that patients are at a state hospital to receive free healthcare: why should they also get free meals? It was an interesting idea. Obviously anyone who is unable to arrange their own meals or anyone who is already dependent on the state for life's necessities should continue to be supplied with meals in hospital. But the people with the means to continue to take responsibility for their own nutritional requirements should be encouraged to do so. They could have meals delivered by loved ones or by boutique businesses that would spring up in the presence of such demand.
On the surface it seems like a workable suggestion. Those who need sustenance via the state get it. Those with the means (and desire) to access alternatives are free to do so.
And just think of the cost savings involved if the number of state-supplied meals was dramatically reduced."
But would this idea work in practice? Bridgeman outlines some concerns:
"Logistically the two groups of people would need to be separated for ease of distribution of the government-provided food. This ostensibly sensible segregation would lead to cries of inequality. One group of people would be eating mashed spud and runny jelly in one section of the ward. The others would be feasting on whatever takes their fancy in another section."
What do you think: Food for thought?
Image:
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It is proposed that unless receiving a benefit, hospital patients should be required to buy their own food