3rd Jan 2008 - 00:00
Abstract
One in three patients was unhappy with the quality of food they were served recently in hospital, according to a consumer organisation Which? survey.
A quarter of patients buy their own or ask friends and families to bring in meals for them.
Research also shows that 27% found the portions too small, with a third saying they did not like the type of food provided.
Almost two-fifths said they did not feel meal times matched when they were able or wanted to eat.
And around one in five staff in hospitals said they would be unhappy to eat the food served to patients each day.
Clare Corbett, health campaigner at Which?, said: "Our research provides yet more evidence that patients and NHS staff are unhappy with hospital food. So why isn't it getting any better?
"It would seem silence is anything but golden when it comes to hospital care. Patients with serious concerns don't speak because they don't think it'll change anything, or they're afraid it might compromise their care."
Which? Interviewed 1,000 UK patients online during August. All respondents have spent at least one night in hospital in the last 12 months. It also interviewed 250 UK hospital staff, including mixed speciality doctors, nurses, caterers, porters and receptionists.