 NEW
SURVEY SHOWS THAT MANY HOSPITALS FAIL VEGGIE PATIENTS
A new UK-wide survey of hospital food has revealed a
dramatic difference in provision for non-meat-eating patients across the country.
Nearly two-thirds of vegetarians expressed satisfaction with their food. Others
were offered corned beef, meat balls and fish dishes as 'vegetarian'.
Many vegan* patients, in particular, faced a traumatic daily fight for food.
Two-thirds of vegans described provision as 'awful'. Vegans who
had just given birth found it difficult to obtain the food they needed to recover
fully and breast feed. A vegan patient's request for a veggie curry was
refused on the grounds that it was 'for ethnics only'.
Animal Aid surveyed more than 300 non-meat-eaters who had stayed in hospital
during the past two years. The findings are reported in Nil By Mouth: an Animal
Aid UK-wide survey of vegetarian and vegan meals in hospitals. Surveys were
also sent to 365 hospitals across the country. Shockingly, only 15 bothered
to reply to the short questionnaire, and among these respondents were catering
departments whose staff thought that fish was suitable for vegetarians and cheese
for vegans.
Nil By Mouth is published
to mark the start of Veggie Month,
the national campaign group's month-long celebration of the cruelty-free diet,
which is staged every March. The survey was designed to test how effectively
the NHS's Better Hospital Food (BHF) scheme is being implemented. Initiated
in July 2000, BHF was intended to improve food quality and availability and
ensure that a variety of dietary needs, including vegetarian and vegan, were
catered for fully. It was part of a larger set of strategies (the NHS Plan)
that the government hoped would bring the health service more in line with patients'
needs.
The Animal Aid survey found some excellent provision - such as in Poole
Hospital, Dorset - but revealed that many hospitals do not fully understand
what vegetarians and vegans eat. Despite a wealth of evidence** demonstrating
the nutritional merits of a non-animal diet, 12% of veggie and 27% of vegan
patients reported coming under negative pressure because of their dietary choice.
Says Animal Aid vegetarian campaigner Ajaye Curry:
"Many hospitals provide an excellent service for vegetarians but
far too many veggie and especially vegan patients still come under intolerable,
even abusive, pressure from hospital staff. Animal Aid urges all hospital
caterers to give non-meat-eating patients equal status to those who do eat
meat, and to provide at least one suitable hot meal every day. The NHS's
own Better Hospital Food Guide requires such basic provision, and we now offer
our own free guide to assist catering departments."
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Notes to Editors
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*Vegetarians eat no flesh, fish or fowl. A vegan
diet excludes egg and dairy products as well.
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** Following a well-balanced vegetarian or vegan diet is scientifically
proven to be healthy. It reduces the chances of suffering a stroke,
heart attack and several forms of cancer. The incidence of high blood pressure
and obesity are also reduced. See the Veggie
Month pages for full background.
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Download a copy of Nil
By Mouth here. Our hospital
catering guide is available online here (PDF).
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For more information contact Ajaye Curry on 01732 364546
ext 28.
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We have an ISDN line for broadcast-quality interviews.
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