Jillian Skinner MPMember for North Shore |
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Wednesday 2 April 2008
The food in NSW hospitals is literally making patients sick, with dieticians confirming substandard meals are impacting on patient health, Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner said today.
Dieticians gave evidence at the Garling Health Inquiry hearing at Royal North Shore Hospital today that patients and clinicians routinely label hospital meals as ‘atrocious’ and ‘appalling’, that ‘malnutrition is rife in our public hospitals’ and that ‘nutritional status often declines’ after they’re admitted to hospital.
“The Iemma Government’s hospital food is making patients sick,” Mrs Skinner said.
“Dieticians are telling Health Minister Reba Meagher that hospital food is not up to standard, and patients are becoming malnourished during prolonged stays in our hospitals,” she said.
“Patients often can’t even eat the food because they are weak or incapacitated and cannot unwrap pre-prepared meals.
“Under the Iemma Government, hospital food has become nothing more than a cost to be managed, and not a part of a patients recovery.
"We need a health system where food is seen as part of patient care and not as a hotel service.
“The real problem is that Reba Meagher and her health bureaucrats are so hell-bent on saving money, they're not looking at the impact poor food has on patients – and malnourished patients stay in hospital for longer.
“Nutrition studies have shown malnourished patients stay in hospital on average for 30 days, whereas properly nourished patients stay for just 16 days.
“These dieticians should be commended for coming forward and speaking out about the poor state of hospital food under Health Minister Reba Meagher.
“The Iemma Government and Health Minister Meagher must set nutritional standards for food in our hospitals so meals help patients recover and sees them get back to their families sooner,” Mrs Skinner said.