Need some advice please

[Rosendula]

After you've submitted your details you receive an email which includes a link to click on. You need to do this to confirm your signature. Have you done that yet? If you have, then perhaps it might be worth waiting until tomorrow and seeing if your name's there then. I have seen some petitions with the same name listed two and three times, perhaps because the site has been slow updating and people think it hasn't worked.

[Rosendula]

ive signed, but how would i go about sending the link to people i know to sign

Copying and pasting the web address is the simplest way to send it. For anyone who hasn't worked out how to copy and paste yet, here's the full address to save you looking for it

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/FoodForHospitals/

Now hover over the link with the mouse and right-click. You get a little menu box up. Click on 'copy link location'.

Go to where you want to paste it in your message, making sure your cursor (the flashing thing that shows where you're going to write) is in the right place, then right click again. Again you get a little menu box up. Click on 'paste'.

[Smooth Hound]

thanks, its there now, im surprised theres not more, problem is i think is that those that havent spent time there does nt realise the importance, or doesnt give a dam, and most people that have been there are just glad to be out and hopefully better, annd would sooner put it behind them, an you cant really blame them really. so its a good thing your doing here, someone has to have a go. well done

[hamster]

This is a subject quite close to my heart, and I shall spare you my incoherent ranting on a) how terrible hospital food is and b) how bl**dy difficult it is to do anything about it. It seems glaringly obvious to any reasonable person that feeding good food to sick people is just common sense (and there is indeed evidence to back this up) but.... that's not how the world works at the moment.

I worked on this project for a while last year, http://www.sustainweb.org/goodfoodpublicplate/, talking to hospital catering managers and compiling case studies, and I can tell you that there are some people doing it right, but unfortunately they are few and far between. Feel free to ask/pm me if you want what extra information I can give.

[StripyPixieSocks]

Thanks, you're all utter stars... sorry I wasn't around to help you with the petition problem but I spent all the visiting hours 2-7pm with OH :)

He's pretty much the same, still on oxygen but hasn't got any drips anymore so just not having huge needles jabbed in his arm has made him feel a bit better I think.

They gave him an attractive pair of mint green pyjamas today so he no longer looks like Jason Stratham when he's in Crank LOL

The miserable moaning old git in the bed opposite signed himself out today so at least the inconsiderate... er... halfwit won't leave the TV on all night and keep everyone in the ward awake now.

So, he's just got to sit back, relax (as much as you can in hospital) and wait to see what the specialist consultant says on Monday.

I think it was thinking about all those athletic, sweaty... err... bouncy(?) ladies running in the marathon tomorrow that sent him over the edge

To add insult to injury I called my parents up tonight to let them know how things are going and my Mom has fallen down some steps in the garden this morning and badly sprained her ankle!

Honestly, it never rains and all that but she's laughing about it and my Dad reckons it's just because she wanted him to cook her a chicken stir fry and that she didn't need to throw herself down the steps she could have just asked

Anyway, he did actually have a salad for dinner tonight which he actually quite enjoyed as the lettuce was crunchy and cold so I left him with half of the local greengrocers and some yoghurt and despite the fact it would take him about 3 weeks to eat all the nice stuff he has now at least I know he's eating well and that's one worry off of my mind!

Edit - Hamster, thankyou... I will have a good read of your website over the next few days and PM you with any questions I may have!

[Smooth Hound]

the main ting is hes free of tubes, he will be chuffed about that, keep taking him the nice food in and pretty oon he will be home , and tell him a tip from me, dont take the service seriously, just give them what for

[Smooth Hound]

itll keep him occupied

[Green Aura]

Glad to hear he's improving, SPS.

[Rosendula]

Don't know if will help but I've posted a link to the petition on the BBC's food message board. It will probably be breaking some pathetic rule, but even if only a few people see it and sign it, it will help. Where else can we post it? Any ideas anyone?

[StripyPixieSocks]

Thankyou so much, I tried to post it on the BBC food place and it never even got put on... pfft!

Anyway:

Two things; firstly the important bit:

Mini update, his oxygen levels are stable and ok now, he still needs it if he walks anywhere as he gets really short of breath but it's certainly an improvement on taking the mask off and his levels dropping like a stone.

I think the hideously strong antibiotics he has had for the last few days have shifted the infection and now the consultants can get to the main cause.

All in all a teeeeeeeeny improvement and he's still being cheeky and giving me aggro so, *fingers crossed* he's on the mend now and it's not going to get any worse!!

Secondly, I think I know why the food is so sh*te, The Queen Elizabeth hospital is totally and utterly insolvent to the tune of £100m so what's the betting they're cutting back on patients meals and not getting rid of a few pen pushers?

Anyway it's all fuel for the fire but it certainly explains ALOT about that hospital!

[Masco&Bongo]

Hugs to you and your OH... what a difficult time for you!

My sister (who is 26) experienced the food thing yesterday. She was in for an op to remove some lymph nodes from her neck.

She had to be at the hospital for 7.30am, and starved from 9pm the night before. When she got to the hosp, she was told that her op wouldn't be until after lunchtime.

She went into surgery at 1pm for about 20 minutes and came round fairly quickly. She was told that she wouldn't be discharged until 5.30pm, when the Dr made his last rounds.

She asked for something to eat as she was ravenous; and it took her asking 3 nurses/ward personnel for them to bring her (an hour later)....
a dry ham sandwich - as in stale-ish bread, no marg/butter/anything, with dry, dry ham on it

She and my mum were gobsmacked! Once she was discharged, they went out for tea and my sister ate a huge steak, chips, onion rings and a massive dessert (which is quite unusual)...

I have signed the petition, and will be forwarding it on to my mum and sister etc.

[Annpan]

That sounds very familiar M+B, the dry ham on stale bread must be a NHS speciality.

[StripyPixieSocks]

Awww M & B, I hope your sister recovers well

Well, he's stopped eating the hospital food altogether so I'm now taking him in lots of home cooked things he can eat and snack on during the day.

The last straw was that he has a Cheese and Onion Cornish Pasty which actually looked similar to a Ginsters one but it made him really poorly and he was fighting off being sick all night and then had stomach ache all the next day so that was is, he told them he didn't want to eat any of the crap they served there and would get stuff from home. It's not that he's a snob or anything it's just he's really not used to eating crap and it's making him sick... even on our pathetic budget for food we still eat better than the rubbish they serve there!

I'm happy he's getting stuff from home and he's happier he's got something to look forward to (tonight was roast chicken salad on Tiger Bread).

Anyway he's a bit chirpier mentally and has had a CT scan today and they told him they didn't know what it was just yet but there in an 'anomaly' on the lungs but he will go away and take a better look at them and tomorrow we might know what is going on with luck!

He's also seeing the dermatologist tomorrow and the consultant who sees him was disgusted that OH's GP hadn't referred him ages ago... needless to say so are we but we're waiting to see what the full diagnosis is before we contact anyone about that.

All in all things are kind of on the way up, we just hope whatever is wrong with his lungs is curable or reversible but I'm sure if it was something sinister they would have sorted it by now and told us... I hope!

... and at least I didn't lock myself out tonight like I did last night D'oh! Thankfully my MIL has spare keys but I felt like a right twonk

[Smooth Hound]

glad to see he has your decent food now keep us informed on his progress.

[Smooth Hound]

just thought i would pass on a tip, if you look at the menu thing you fill in in hospital, you will find a box for kosher food. tick that one whether your a jew or not just tell them you are, i certainly will be if im unfortunate enough to be in hospital again