Last year Jay had an operation on his leg. Today he an appointment with his consultant to check everything is OK. Thank goodness it is. Being back in hospital with Jay inevitably brings back memories of when he was so poorly. We were chatting and reminiscing about which hospitals had the best food. (Jay is a massive foodie)We became quite the experts on hospital food during his stay in all three of our local hospitals.

”Yes Mama,” Jay reminisced, ”York was the best”.

”Ahhh,” I countered, ”but you did love the pasta in Leeds. Anyway you were too poorly in York to eat.

I need to point out the food we were discussing wasn’t the food that was fed to the patients. We were talking about the canteen cuisine, food you queued up and paid for. We always went to the canteen and bought Jay food from there or requested one of the halal meals which seemed to be made with more care and attention. Better ingredients and definitely better for Jay’ s health. (that tip was from one of the ward matrons). The normal food provided in the children’s wards was horrendous, too awful to feed to Jay had he been able to eat.  There would have been more nutritional value in the pillows then the chicken nuggets and greasy beans poorly children were expected to get better eating. At the weakest time of their lives why do hospitals think it is ok to feed kids junk? Harrogate ws marginally better and in Leeds we existed on brought in food and free chocolate muffins and milkshakes. Not very healthy at all. Apparently prisoners are fed better food from a bigger budget then those ill in hospital.  It just doesnt make sense.

Whilst in hospital I wrote a poem about the food. It made Jay smile, always a winner.

Hospital Food

Hospital food,

Hospital food,

Looks just like it’s already been chewed.

 

Sat on the ward,

Feeling a bit thinner,

Its ages since I have eaten any dinner.

My stomach is rumbling,

I cant wait to eat,

If i wait any longer I’ll start on my feet,

 

Hospital food,

Hospital food,

Don’t eat the tart ,

It will make you fart,

 

When it arrives I look to see,

What they have given me for my tea.

But what is this,

There must be a mistake,

It looks like the regurgitated inside of a snake.

 

Hospital food,

Hospital; food,

Its brown and runny,

Makes my tummy feel funny.

 

Beans beans good for the heart.

In hospital they serve them by the cart,

But don’t eat too many like the boy next to me,

He exploded just after finishing his tea.

 

Hospital food,

Hospital food,

Use the alphabetti spaghetti ,

To spell something rude.

 

For yummy food I’d fight tooth, nail and claw,

But they would just ask if I wanted more?

And anyway, it worries them not,

As those are ingredients that go into their pot.

Hospital food ,

Hospital food,

To get better hasty,

Please feed us something tasty.