Dish of the Day

This was one of the meals served up during my most recent stay in hospital. I don't have words to describe it, unfortunately.

Sandwich scandal

Whoever put this little delight together clearly had an NVQ Level 2 in Spread Technology but had obviously flunked their NVQ Level 1 on Stuffings. This is the sort of rubbish that's supposed to nourish one very sick person for at least one of their daily meals during a hospital stay. The even bigger scandal is that these pathetic snacks when ordered 'out of hours' if, say, a patient misses a meal while being x-rayed or operated on, can cost up to £35 in a PFI hospital. That's what you call earning a crust.

The battle continues

Meal from my last visit. Can you guess what it is?

Well that was a slightly longer break than I had intended! For those of you still subscribed to my blog I’d like to welcome me back. I know that sounds a bit strange but I really do have a few good excuses for not having written. The main excuse was another stay in hospital to have a large lump of ironmongery removed from my leg now that my femur has knitted itself back together. Unfortunately this was followed by another bone infection and a six-week course of antibiotics. Touch wood, I’m back on the mend and feeling quite a bit better.

While I’ve been away I’ve noticed that absolutely nothing has changed concerning the dire quality of hospital food. In fact, the awful stuff I was fed during my last hospital stay was every bit as bad as the last... and possibly worse. Long-time visitors to the blog will recall that I made a documentary for Channel 4’s Dispatches a year or so ago and as a result the petition I set up calling on the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, to do something hasn’t even received an acknowledgement. Despite 4,000 people taking the trouble to sign the petition, the man in charge of the NHS hasn’t even so much as raised an eyebrow.

So what are we to do? Is there any point fighting on trying to get hospital food improved? Well, I think there is. I may be out of hospital and hopefully I won’t taste that awful food again for some time, but plenty of sick and frail people are still relying on meals that cost less than £1 to produce. For many it’s their only source of nutrition and their recovery is being impeded. I need to think of some new ways of tackling this subject and would really appreciate any suggestions that you might have.

So if anyone’s still reading, please fire up my indignation and help me with some ideas of how I can bring the truly shocking aspect of the NHS to the attention of the wider public.

Too late, minister

Andrew Lansley, the Secretary of State for Health, is all over the media today criticising findings by the Care Quality Commission that has found 20% of NHS hospitals mistreating the elderly and failing to feed and hydrate patients properly. The minister speaks as if it's a bit of a shock to him.

And yet, last February I made a film for Channel 4's Dispatches that highlighted this problem. After the programme was shown I sent the minister a petition signed by 4000 people asking him to do something about the issue. I did not receive even the courtesy of a reply from Mr Lansley. And yet, today, the minister claims he wants to encourage whistleblowers and to stop patients being starved when in the care of the NHS. Incredible.

Only now that the minister's position is threatened is he willing to do anything. It's shameful behaviour.

On yer bike!

Yesterday I was watching a rerun of Francesco’s Italy, a charming programme following the journey of Francesco da Mosta around his home country. Last night he reached Naples. The busy streets were packed with mopeds and pushbikes. No one was wearing a crash helmet and often there were three to a bike or even young children riding on the crossbar of the pushbikes. As far as I could tell, no one was injured and the population of Naples hasn’t been decimated by this cavalier attitude to road safety.

Contrast this with the news that a father of a two-year-old boy was fined £200 for carrying his son on a crossbar seat on his bicycle in Burton, Staffordshire. The seat was bolted to the crossbar and further fastened using duct tape. The child was wearing a cycle helmet. Ghulam Murtza was handed a fixed-penalty notice by a police officer for the offence which he duly ripped up and threw on the floor in disgust. He was then handed another fixed penalty notice for littering.

Technically Ghulam was in the wrong as, according to the Highway Code, the bicycle hadn’t been adapted to carry a passenger, although one could argue that as the seat was bolted to the cycle frame, it was an adaptation. At court Ghulam was fined £100 for the cycling offence, £85 costs and the pathetic £15 victim surcharge that automatically gets slapped on any fine in this country, just so a bunch of quangocrats can enjoy fat pensions and gilded salaries by pretending to care about crime.

Meanwhile, cycling groups throughout the country are supportive of people being able to carry children on bicycles, as we’re all supposed to be going green and reducing our carbon footprints by using cars less.

However, the most chilling aspect of the story for me was the Orwellian weaselspeak from Chief Inspector Phil Fortun, commander of East Staffordshire Local Policing Team, which covers Burton. He said: 'It is our duty to protect people and ensure the safety of the communities we serve.

‘The bicycle was not made to carry a child in that way and officers took action to protect the young child from potential injury or worse, should the bike have been involved in a collision. The bike's owner was well-meaning in his efforts, but misguided with regards to the safety of himself and his son. Road safety is a priority for Staffordshire Police and we will continue to take the necessary action to keep all road users safe.’

They're only doing it to keep us safe. They could have had a quiet word with Ghulam if they really felt it was their business, but no... far easier to get the fixed-penalty ticket book out.

Makes you proud to be British, doesn’t it? Which way is Naples?