"Wythenshawe Hospital Food"

Past experience has told me that hospital is the very last place for food to make you healthy and the last time I was there was no exception. I was in Wythenshawe for surgery to a hand injury but, since the nerves and tendons would still be there several days later, I spent from Wednesday morning until Friday afternoon waiting to be operated on and regularly being relegated further down the list as more urgent cases came in. This meant I was usually unable to order a vegan dish - or indeed any dish - for my dinner as it was too late to place the order by the time I discovered I would not be operated on each day.

In the time I was there I had only 2 proper meals - having to settle for visitor brought chocolate and dry white toast kindly provided by the nurses the rest of the time.

The meals I did have were a baked potato with baked beans, which I disliked and was unable to manage much of, and a curry which was served with white rice and had only a couple of small pieces of carrot and a few peas by way of vegetables. The only green I saw was the dull green of the curry, hardly any vegetables were served.

How are people supposed to get well without the protein, vitamins and minerals to help them heal? Proper vegan food is suitable for everyone, is easy and cheap to make, and carries the nutrients for a healthy body, without the meat and dairy which can have such disastrous effects on health.

Thankfully since I went vegan 14 years ago I have never been ill, visiting hospital only twice in that time, once for this injury and previously to be sterilised. I am grateful that my healthy diet means it will probably be many years before I need go into hospital again, but I cannot help having concerns for others, particularly long term patients, being fed so few vegetables. I can only hope that things have improved recently.