Quality of food at TCH - has to be seen to be believed

Having seen the image, my dog now wants to know who has been following him about with a plate.

The food at TCH used to be quite good. Yeah, it was bland, but it was nutritious and edible.

Things changed in about 2003 (taking the date from various hospital visits). This was about the time TCH got a new administrator and the kitchen was closed and food prep outsourced to (from memory) Goulburn prison.

So Iw oudl say it should be possible to deliver half decent food (edible but bland) at a decent price since they could do it only a decade ago.

Teglian said :

I was there about 5 years ago giving birth. Food was terrible then too. One night dinner was a slice ofprocessed ham, about 6 pineapple pieces (as in fruit salad size) & a quater cup of mash. Of course the cafe was closed. I plan on getting out ASAP for the next birth, I don’t mind saving them moneyon food.

or go to queanbeyan for birthing – excellent midwife-driven maternity suite, reasonable food (and close enough to woolies for dad to walk over and get something on which to snack) and an accredited baby-friendly hospital where you can stay in a single room with dad for a few nights… quangers gets some things very right.

I was there about 5 years ago giving birth. Food was terrible then too. One night dinner was a slice ofprocessed ham, about 6 pineapple pieces (as in fruit salad size) & a quater cup of mash. Of course the cafe was closed. I plan on getting out ASAP for the next birth, I don’t mind saving them moneyon food.

#firstworldproblems

It’s a hospital, not a restaurant.

The food is edible and keeps you alive.

I see no problem.

I was in TCH last year for a throat operation. Upon reading my chart (that said something along the lines of soft foods only) I was given a stale sandwich, warm juice and and apple. I wouldn’t have complained if I had a broken leg or something that didn’t effect my ability to eat but I was really hungry and couldn’t eat anything supplied to me. I made this known to the nurse on duty though a series of grunts and whines which got me a pad and pen to write on, when a new meal was brought back it was a different stale sandwich and warm juice. The juice was painful but delicious.

When I was visited by a family member an hour or so later and they found out I had been given two meals I couldn’t eat they went and found a head nurse and in about 2 minutes flat I had some lovely mush to eat.

Moral of the story: Hospital food sucks but nothing will ever change, next time I go in I’ll be planning in advance outside sources of food

thumper109 said :

mezza76 said :

Lol. I have seen it. It doesn’t look great. But you’ve got to understand that hospitals are not hotels. Medicare doesnt provide for all proceduresv& evn then it’s not 100% of the cost. The bulk of the funds are made up of state & territories where they have the worst revenue. Eg. QLD spends about $8bn per year on health, they get about $5bn of GST… Leaving the rest to be made up from transfer duties & the like. Then they have to pay for schools, police, roads, etc. I assume that the ACT is in a similar situation & in a worst position given the small amount of taxes generated here.

Health costs are rising at about 9-10% a year. At current rates, states & territories have about 30 yrs before health costs take up the entire budget. The food is the least of my concerns…

Then maybe next time some stupid politician offers a tax cut for votes, they should be told “We’d rather have a better health service.”

Just a thought.

Sadly, I don’t like your chances.

As per @Weston above – there is a view that it’s all part of the service. It isn’t. It is a free taxpayer paid meal provided in order to keep you alive. I could well imagine the uproar if the Government provided a wonderful 3 course meal for all those CAT 5 patients, including junkies, drunks, and otherwise people who are admitted overnight. The Canberra Times would have a field day at the government ‘excess’.

Here’s a thought? Maybe they TCH should charge people separately for hospital meals (im sure they could then outsource this to a catering company who could make some money)? How would people like that? The Medicare Act only provides for free medical care, not free meals.

As a society we’ve got 3 options:
* Pay more tax
* Have a user pays system / user chargers
* Have less service

So what is it?

mezza76 said :

Lol. I have seen it. It doesn’t look great. But you’ve got to understand that hospitals are not hotels. Medicare doesnt provide for all proceduresv& evn then it’s not 100% of the cost. The bulk of the funds are made up of state & territories where they have the worst revenue. Eg. QLD spends about $8bn per year on health, they get about $5bn of GST… Leaving the rest to be made up from transfer duties & the like. Then they have to pay for schools, police, roads, etc. I assume that the ACT is in a similar situation & in a worst position given the small amount of taxes generated here.

Health costs are rising at about 9-10% a year. At current rates, states & territories have about 30 yrs before health costs take up the entire budget. The food is the least of my concerns…

Then maybe next time some stupid politician offers a tax cut for votes, they should be told “We’d rather have a better health service.”

Just a thought.

Anyone else remember when KFC delivered? It’s a perfect solution!

p1 said :

The food is edible and keeps you alive.

Not if you don’t eat it.

Touche!

And those coming here with the old and tired “don’t whinge about a free service” argument, the staff still get paid and it is no excuse for them doing such a mediocre job. Especially as good nutrition could arguably be an important part of some patients’ recovery, if not for the physical influence, then for the mental. Getting really bad food put in front of you every day is downright depressing. As if being in hospital isn’t depressing enough.

trevar said :

Bennop said :

This is all good and fine for those who have support networks who are prepared to do bring or prepare food for them, which many people do not.

Rubbish. There’s nothing to stop the unsupported from ordering a delivery from Colesworths or a take away. That’s just as easy as ticking the boxes on the form they give you at the hospital..

You are a crack up. Nothing to stop them.from ticking a box maybe. But then what…they receive a hamper from woolworths and are required to cut, broil, stew and serve their meal, in between throwing up, paralysis, open fracture wound treatment and specialist consultations? Dude.

trevar said :

Bennop said :

This is all good and fine for those who have support networks who are prepared to do bring or prepare food for them, which many people do not.

Rubbish. There’s nothing to stop the unsupported from ordering a delivery from Colesworths or a take away. That’s just as easy as ticking the boxes on the form they give you at the hospital.

At any rate, this approach doesn’t really require the hospital to change anything, which means the unsupported can make do with what they’re getting if they can’t… well I can’t think of a reason why you wouldn’t be able to do one of those things. But regardless, while the hospital could save money by not bothering, it could just be an opt-in system instead of an opt out, and that might reduce the waste.

My better half was in for three days last year, and to avoid her getting sicker by eating the hospital’s food, we set up a temporary routine; each evening I’d feed the offspring, then we’d all take a plate into the hospital along with something for breakfast the following morning. I work near TCH, so I made arrangements for a long lunch and delivered her lunch fresh too. The nurses were very supportive, and happy to run the plate to a microwave when needed, and they also informed the kitchen not to waste a meal by bringing it.

The fact is we’ve already got the solution to the problem in the OP, and it requires no change on the part of the hospital to implement it.

so you critique the post decrying the plight of the unsupported then detail the fairly intense support you were able to be for your loved one… what’s to stop them ordering from supermarket duopoly? well, mebbe one, incapacitation to then prepare a meal from it, and two, lack of facilities to store and prepare it… they’re in hospital ’cause they’re sick; i should think the system can provide appropriate nourishment for the ill as a core component of the treatment of their patients. [not to comment on the op on this – the food may or may not be ‘nourishing’, as opposed to ‘appealing’]

Bennop said :

This is all good and fine for those who have support networks who are prepared to do bring or prepare food for them, which many people do not.

Rubbish. There’s nothing to stop the unsupported from ordering a delivery from Colesworths or a take away. That’s just as easy as ticking the boxes on the form they give you at the hospital.

At any rate, this approach doesn’t really require the hospital to change anything, which means the unsupported can make do with what they’re getting if they can’t… well I can’t think of a reason why you wouldn’t be able to do one of those things. But regardless, while the hospital could save money by not bothering, it could just be an opt-in system instead of an opt out, and that might reduce the waste.

My better half was in for three days last year, and to avoid her getting sicker by eating the hospital’s food, we set up a temporary routine; each evening I’d feed the offspring, then we’d all take a plate into the hospital along with something for breakfast the following morning. I work near TCH, so I made arrangements for a long lunch and delivered her lunch fresh too. The nurses were very supportive, and happy to run the plate to a microwave when needed, and they also informed the kitchen not to waste a meal by bringing it.

The fact is we’ve already got the solution to the problem in the OP, and it requires no change on the part of the hospital to implement it.

The food is edible and keeps you alive.

Not if you don’t eat it.

My Dad was at TCH for many months when he had cancer, after the first meal he had there we made sure that he had home cooked meals for every meal, I wouldn’t feed the crap they served up to him to my dog. The nutritionist told us what he needed to eat, so we made sure he got it (there is no connection between the nutritionists and the food providers at TCH).

It’s a hospital, not a restaurant.

The food is edible and keeps you alive.

I see no problem.

I stayed at the Canberra Hospital last year for four nights. The food is not edible.

breda said :

Hospital food is pretty awful – I have had airline food that is better.

Why do people complain about airline food so much? Admittedly I’ve not had it often, but certainly when I did eat it I was left wondering what all the fuss was about. No joke, the “gourmet roll” on an economy flight from Canberra to Melbourne on QANTAS was better than a lot you’d find in proper cafes and coffee shops who charge a premium for it.

Anyway the solution to bad hospital food is quite simple. Before admission, go to an engraver and have one of those little plastic signs made that the hospital puts above your bed saying “Nil by Mouth.” If enough patents start bringing in their own signs, they may get a hint.

trevar said :

I don’t think the complaint in the OP really related to personal preferences or even dietary requirements; it is about whether the food is in any way nourishing. If it is not (and this seems to be the case, judging by the image above), wouldn’t it be more efficient to stop providing food altogether?

The OP’s comment about the meals at the AMC is most interesting. Most inmates have a grocery allowance and prepare their own meals. Inmates in the higher security areas are catered for by chefs and their apprentices (many of whom are also inmates), with meals prepared in the vicinity of the service area. So invariably, all food service at the AMC is better than that at TCH, and the TCH could learn a lot by looking into the AMC’s practices.

In the past, hospitals didn’t provide food for patients; it was the responsibility of patient’s families to feed them if they were too incapacitated to feed themselves. In my opinion, this is probably a better arrangement than what we have presently. A lot of money is being wasted on substances often referred to as ‘food’, which must be sent to landfill as there is no other use for it. Why not simply provide small kitchens on wards for the use of patients and their families?

There is, no doubt, a lot of space occupied by kitchens that don’t produce nourishing food, and this space could be reclaimed and used for wards, compensating for the small kitchens you place on every ward. I’ve even seen spaces used for the distribution of ‘meals’ on many hospital wards; these could be reclaimed and used for food preparation by patients and their families, so the ward needn’t shrink to accommodate a kitchen.

Even with this arrangement, there would be no need for patients’ families to make the provision; there are plenty of grocery delivery services now, so patients can organise their needs from their bed.

I honestly don’t think we’d lose anything by simply removing food service from our hospitals altogether, and making it the responsibility of the patient to arrange their own meals while hospital staff get on with the business of medicine.

This is all good and fine for those who have support networks who are prepared to do bring or prepare food for them, which many people do not.

I don’t think the complaint in the OP really related to personal preferences or even dietary requirements; it is about whether the food is in any way nourishing. If it is not (and this seems to be the case, judging by the image above), wouldn’t it be more efficient to stop providing food altogether?

The OP’s comment about the meals at the AMC is most interesting. Most inmates have a grocery allowance and prepare their own meals. Inmates in the higher security areas are catered for by chefs and their apprentices (many of whom are also inmates), with meals prepared in the vicinity of the service area. So invariably, all food service at the AMC is better than that at TCH, and the TCH could learn a lot by looking into the AMC’s practices.

In the past, hospitals didn’t provide food for patients; it was the responsibility of patient’s families to feed them if they were too incapacitated to feed themselves. In my opinion, this is probably a better arrangement than what we have presently. A lot of money is being wasted on substances often referred to as ‘food’, which must be sent to landfill as there is no other use for it. Why not simply provide small kitchens on wards for the use of patients and their families?

There is, no doubt, a lot of space occupied by kitchens that don’t produce nourishing food, and this space could be reclaimed and used for wards, compensating for the small kitchens you place on every ward. I’ve even seen spaces used for the distribution of ‘meals’ on many hospital wards; these could be reclaimed and used for food preparation by patients and their families, so the ward needn’t shrink to accommodate a kitchen.

Even with this arrangement, there would be no need for patients’ families to make the provision; there are plenty of grocery delivery services now, so patients can organise their needs from their bed.

I honestly don’t think we’d lose anything by simply removing food service from our hospitals altogether, and making it the responsibility of the patient to arrange their own meals while hospital staff get on with the business of medicine.

cross said :

Lived in Canberra for 40 years and never heard these…

Ahhh, there is your problem, 40 years ago TCH was Woden Valley Hospital (assuming it was built then), and the gaol didn’t exit.

Of course, the AMC *has* had rather a lot of press over the last 5 years or so, and the Hospital only adopted the “TCH” branding about 10 years ago…

Whilst there are not doubt more amusing examples, I think this complaint could be the quintessential example of #firstworldproblems.

Very recently, the mrs was admitted to the john james maternity unit for a week. The food she was served was first rate, looked like it was from a fine dining restaurant. It was consistently good for the whole time.

After having spent 7 nights at TCH last month I agree with the sentiment about the food. It is really terrible (and noticeably worse than John James where I also recently stayed for the birth of my children). But I agree with other posters who have commented on the difficulty of having a menu that has to cater for unwell people and the logistics of getting a huge number of meals out all at the one time – you can’t be expecing gourmet meals. And I can cope with a week of bad food. The most important thing was the amazing care I received and that I got better.
Having said that, in addition to those 7 nights at TCH I was flown to St Vincents in Sydney & was there for a couple of nights (in the public part) and the food was so much better there with a far more efficient ordering system.

Seem to be a flux of food-related posts. Brodburger or Jamie Oliver would do a better job, and could cater for $3.33 per head. (This paragraph is a joke by the way).

In some Singapore hospitals, the food trolleys are automated between the kitchen and the wards. The trolleys run along tracks, go up and down lifts automatically. Quite amazing when I saw it 10 years ago. Although the trays still need to be brought (by human) from the trolley to the patient. Automation seems to be big over there.

Hospital food is pretty awful – I have had airline food that is better. But, to put it in perspective, it would cost a lot of money to improve it substantially. For a start, hospital buildings are large – lots of floors, lots of corridors. There is usually one kitchen, which can’t help being a long way away from many patients.

Secondly, there are a bunch of ever changing dietary requirements for patients. On any given day, there are patients who can or cannot eat this or that, whether for medical reasons, or because of allergies, and things like vegetarianism, allergies and religious requirements. The next day, the mix will be different.

It is easy to criticise, but it is a bit like the famous ‘rubber chicken’ at functions. It happens because it is expensive and wasteful to try to cater for every individual’s preferences, so we get the lowest (and cheapest) common denominator.

By all means, complain about the food if it is horrible. But it is worth recognising that catering for a hospital where you can’t charge $25 for a terrible club sandwich and chips – usually delivered lukewarm – like hotels do has inbuilt limitations.

cross said :

P.S. It’s Alexander Maconochie Centre sorry for the correction,could’nt help myself.

“Couldn’t”.

cross said :

p1 said :

TCH = The Canberra Hospital (the public hospital in Canberra)
AMC = The Alexander Maconahie Centre (the prison in Canberra)

It was probably fair of the OP to think that most Canberristanis would know the acronyms, especially those who frequent this site.

Lived in Canberra for 40 years and never heard these but then I’m not in the public service were these acronyms run riot.
P.S. It’s Alexander Maconochie Centre sorry for the correction,could’nt help myself.

Let’s just call it the gaol and be done with it.

A few years ago I spent a week at calvary. After three days the nurses noted that I must be getting better. Considering how crappy I felt I had to ask how they came to that conclusion.

The answer? “Because you’ve stopped eating the food”.

p1 said :

TCH = The Canberra Hospital (the public hospital in Canberra)
AMC = The Alexander Maconahie Centre (the prison in Canberra)

It was probably fair of the OP to think that most Canberristanis would know the acronyms, especially those who frequent this site.

Lived in Canberra for 40 years and never heard these but then I’m not in the public service were these acronyms run riot.
P.S. It’s Alexander Maconochie Centre sorry for the correction,could’nt help myself.

Spent a couple of weeks in TCH a year or so ago. I eat to stay alive, and have nothing but praise for the meals provided. Seemed to me to be balanced nutricianlly (sp?) and well worth eating.

Its not like your paying a squillion dollars per meal.

vg said :

Never ceases to amaze me how people only become brave enough to try and rectify an issue when they get home and can hide behind a DSL line.

Did you mention the food to anyone? Did you complain? Not a hard thing to do.

Having been the subject of numerous orthopaedic procedures over the years, on the rare occasion I’ve had staff attitude problems I’ve dealt with them myself. Upon having a nurse who found it ‘annoying’ that I asked for pain medication after surgery to insert screws into a wrist and arm I told her I didn’t appreciate the attitude. My requests were legitimate and actually less than the standard requirements. She didn’t like that so I took the time to note her shifts and, when on during the evening and I knew she was watching TV, I would periodically buzz her and ask if it was still annoying.

One nurse told me that I was more than capable of going home 6 hrs after a knee reconstruction. I asked her if she’d suffered my injury previously. When she said know I asked her if she’d care for me to obliterate her ACL and ask if she held the same opinion. When I get treated like sh*t I become the biggest c in the world, I paid for the service so I demand it

…..and they will wait patiently for your next visit just to cater for your ‘demands’.

grump said :

mezza76 said :

Um, I suppose you are talking about the food at a public hospital? (I assumed that was what TCH is). So in essence you are complaining about the food at a publicly funded hospital where you get treated for free and you wish you had better food? While I appreciate that food at hospitals should be better, in terms of nutrition, I’d much prefer that public health funds went towards better health outcomes rather than food quality. In short Australia’s don’t pay an awful lot for hospital care but receive some of the better care in the planet. That’s what matters. I’m sure you’d be the first to complain if we raised taxes by a small fraction to ensure that next person who enters hospital and doesn’t pay anything for it gets a nice meal. Im astonished.

Mezza – have you seen the food? honestly, a blind hamster could prepare more appealing and appetising meals

A blind hamster would BE a more appealing and appetising meal.

Lol. I have seen it. It doesn’t look great. But you’ve got to understand that hospitals are not hotels. Medicare doesnt provide for all proceduresv& evn then it’s not 100% of the cost. The bulk of the funds are made up of state & territories where they have the worst revenue. Eg. QLD spends about $8bn per year on health, they get about $5bn of GST… Leaving the rest to be made up from transfer duties & the like. Then they have to pay for schools, police, roads, etc. I assume that the ACT is in a similar situation & in a worst position given the small amount of taxes generated here.

Health costs are rising at about 9-10% a year. At current rates, states & territories have about 30 yrs before health costs take up the entire budget. The food is the least of my concerns…

You aren’t really there for the food.. If it was good then you would get people just there for the food, complaining of fake pain just to get a decent meal!

I’m sure the hospital also has very strict things about what it can and can’t cook and has to be done in huge amounts for a budget!

mezza76 said :

Um, I suppose you are talking about the food at a public hospital? (I assumed that was what TCH is). So in essence you are complaining about the food at a publicly funded hospital where you get treated for free and you wish you had better food? While I appreciate that food at hospitals should be better, in terms of nutrition, I’d much prefer that public health funds went towards better health outcomes rather than food quality. In short Australia’s don’t pay an awful lot for hospital care but receive some of the better care in the planet. That’s what matters. I’m sure you’d be the first to complain if we raised taxes by a small fraction to ensure that next person who enters hospital and doesn’t pay anything for it gets a nice meal. Im astonished.

Mezza – have you seen the food? honestly, a blind hamster could prepare more appealing and appetising meals

The subject matter in the image indicates that the patient got the plate confused with a bed pan.

Um, I suppose you are talking about the food at a public hospital? (I assumed that was what TCH is). So in essence you are complaining about the food at a publicly funded hospital where you get treated for free and you wish you had better food? While I appreciate that food at hospitals should be better, in terms of nutrition, I’d much prefer that public health funds went towards better health outcomes rather than food quality. In short Australia’s don’t pay an awful lot for hospital care but receive some of the better care in the planet. That’s what matters. I’m sure you’d be the first to complain if we raised taxes by a small fraction to ensure that next person who enters hospital and doesn’t pay anything for it gets a nice meal. Im astonished.

Never ceases to amaze me how people only become brave enough to try and rectify an issue when they get home and can hide behind a DSL line.

Did you mention the food to anyone? Did you complain? Not a hard thing to do.

Having been the subject of numerous orthopaedic procedures over the years, on the rare occasion I’ve had staff attitude problems I’ve dealt with them myself. Upon having a nurse who found it ‘annoying’ that I asked for pain medication after surgery to insert screws into a wrist and arm I told her I didn’t appreciate the attitude. My requests were legitimate and actually less than the standard requirements. She didn’t like that so I took the time to note her shifts and, when on during the evening and I knew she was watching TV, I would periodically buzz her and ask if it was still annoying.

One nurse told me that I was more than capable of going home 6 hrs after a knee reconstruction. I asked her if she’d suffered my injury previously. When she said know I asked her if she’d care for me to obliterate her ACL and ask if she held the same opinion. When I get treated like sh*t I become the biggest c in the world, I paid for the service so I demand it

TCH = The Canberra Hospital (the public hospital in Canberra)
AMC = The Alexander Maconahie Centre (the prison in Canberra)

It was probably fair of the OP to think that most Canberristanis would know the acronyms, especially those who frequent this site.

Good practice for when we’re really old and treated with total contempt in old people’s homes.

I spent 3 nights at TCH in February and 2 nights at John James
in 2010. Food at both of them was shocking!
Although the quality of care and the attitudes of the staff at TCH was so much better
than John James! So I’ll take TCH any day, particularly when the nurses do coffee runs to the cafe!

It says ‘So Good’, but it really isn’t…

I am happy to be corrected but 21/2 years ago while mum was having a number of sessions in hospital prior to her passing away, that the food in hospital in canberra is not prepared on site but shipped in from Sydney from some giant preparation centre and reheated and delivered to beds.

It is uniformly crap – totatally un-appetising and unappealing when people are sick and supposed to be recovering their strength (the food was not what finally did for her I hasten to add).

What is TCH and an AMD ?you’re using them like it obvious and everybody should know .So your post made absolutely no sense to me.

buzz819 said :

I think they used to be given the same food, but that was the remand centre, I thought they had their own kitchen and they cook their own food out there? As one of the jobs you can get or something?

Belconnen Remand Centre inmates food was prepared by the kitchen at Calvary Hospital, which was/is run by a private contractor.

The funding provided by the government was higher per head for the inmates than the patients so the inmates ended up with much better food.

Is the pic the ‘square of glutinous green stuff’ (i.e. your spinach gnocci) or something else??

dvaey said :

Ben_Dover said :

Do share the image with us.

I took photos of many of my hospital meals, mostly because people wouldnt believe it unless you had a photo to prove how bad they were sometimes.

Interestingly, I used to get family to bring food sometimes, but more often from the downstairs cafe.. visitors and staff get better food than the patients, even if the food was the same (ie. a pasta from the cafe looked fresh and inviting, where the food that catering brought around looked like it had been sitting on the plate for a few hours before it got to me).

I recall hearing a discussion on ABC local radio with someone from Calvary John James about their food. He did say that it is hard to get food to all corners of the hospital still warm enough and looking good – one of the downsides to what they do and how they are currently set up. Although I do believe they were on the show spruiking new facillities or something!

I was in John James hospital for 4 nights when Master Cholet decided to pop along. I must admit that the food was not great at all – even though the patients are all paying good money to be there. The saving grace for me was that I was so ravenously hungry after all that effort I ate anything that was put in front of me!

If anyone needs an indication of how good the food is at the hospital, just look at how many patients make the effort to get down to the cafe (which does really quite good food).

That said. Big institutions are pretty universally known for crap food.

The food has to be bland and safe so as not to upset any sensitive tummies. At the end of the day its not about having a delicious meal it’s about sustinence and a balance of the things your body needs.

Blandness isn’t helped by the fact they have to prep all the meals to go out at the same time which usually means chilling and ‘regenerating’ the cooked items.

I won’t believe you until I see the photo.

Ben_Dover said :

Do share the image with us.

I took photos of many of my hospital meals, mostly because people wouldnt believe it unless you had a photo to prove how bad they were sometimes.

Interestingly, I used to get family to bring food sometimes, but more often from the downstairs cafe.. visitors and staff get better food than the patients, even if the food was the same (ie. a pasta from the cafe looked fresh and inviting, where the food that catering brought around looked like it had been sitting on the plate for a few hours before it got to me).

Hospital food seems to be notoriously bad in general, you would however think that in todays climate for healthier food etc that they would lift their game especially in a hospital! mind you the question needs to be asked if the people who prepare the meals are even cooks by trade?

” It was so bad I started laughing and then took a photo and sent it to friends and family.”,/i>

Do share the image with us.

I think they used to be given the same food, but that was the remand centre, I thought they had their own kitchen and they cook their own food out there? As one of the jobs you can get or something?

I spent six weeks in there in 2010 – after a couple of weeks, I was begging people to bring things from home or even the BP servo. Although the custard is pretty good :\