Canberra Hospital's new menu systems improve patient experience

kakosi said :

Is DIETpas something for all patients or just private patients?

My mother’s in there now and there’s no evidence that anything is being tailored for her needs. She’s supposed to be getting a diabetic menu and yet it contains items high in sugar and carbs.

Kakosi, that has always been the diabetic menu at the hospital unfortunately (my partner is diabetic). Full of options that are completely unsuitable to diabetics, and even I would think twice about eating as a non-diabetic. We found the best option was to just get a normal menu and just choose the parts wisely. Complete joke.

Hope your Mum feels better soon.

kakosi said :

I’m going in each day and buying food for her at the cafeteria so she at least has something she can stomach.

If the food is from the staff cafeteria, then your mother must have a cast-iron stomach and an amazing resistance to food poisoning. If it is from the public cafeteria, then you must be made of money.

Is DIETpas something for all patients or just private patients?

My mother’s in there now and there’s no evidence that anything is being tailored for her needs. She’s supposed to be getting a diabetic menu and yet it contains items high in sugar and carbs.

Apart from that, the main meals are for the most part inedible. I’m going in each day and buying food for her at the cafeteria so she at least has something she can stomach. It’s the same for other patients whose relatives are also bringing in food.

It’s a slight pity that it appears in this system that if a patient doesn’t have a diet assigned to them, their menu comes out blank/empty.
I found that the only way to order meals for my wife was to find another patient’s menu and transcribe a list of desired food onto the blank menu.

Probably need to update admission procedures to ensure that a diet is assigned…

Well completely different to the experience I had in Canberra hospital recently. All up (for various reasons) spent full 9 days in there. Twice when I was on “nil by mouth” they sent up full meals, 4 times when I was on “clear fluids only” and 3 times when I was supposed to get something to eat – they sent no meals at all and the nurses had to go and find me something. Pretty bad especially considering the LAST time that happened the doctors had specifically stated that I could not be discharged until I had “Tolerated” 2 solid meals…So they only got the instructions from the ward right a third of the time… To say the nurses were annoyed is putting it mildly, my thoughts on the matter cannot be repeated on a public forum.

But if you’re still waiting to be seen in the ER after 10 hours and they’ve altered your record to closed, how will they know where to deliver your meal?

Reprobate said :

I’m sure the hospital’s data reports show that 100% of patients are happy with this new system.

Bowling Shane, bowling.

I’m sure the hospital’s data reports show that 100% of patients are happy with this new system.