Meals/Nutrition

There is always a choice of food from the ward trolley, both hot and cold, at main mealtimes (midday lunch and evening dinner). The choice includes a vegetarian option and a selection of foods to meet your religious and cultural needs.

Breakfast is continental style, unless the dietician requests a cooked meal for you. Special diets, e.g. gluten free food, will be provided after consultation with a dietician. For some patients, it is a long time between evening dinner and breakfast, for instance, and so snacks can be requested at any time.

Beverages are served mid morning, mid afternoon and in the evening after dinner. They can also be obtained at other times at individual request.

There is a hospital restaurant at the City General site that is open from 7.00am to 7.00pm daily and coffee and snack bar open from 7.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday on the Royal Infirmary site. Hospital Relatives and friends wishing to bring in food for patients should speak with a member of staff. In general, this is possible unless the patient's condition dictates otherwise. Any food brought into hospital must be consumed straight away as there are no facilities for re-heating or storage. Non-perishable food, such as biscuits, should be stored in tins/plastic containers.

If you would like to raise any points about the catering service, please speak to a member of ward staff or our PALS service.

Ensuring you receive adequate food/nutrition is an important aim as part of our care. The Trust has two initiatives to assist with this, one called Protected Mealtime which is a period of time over lunch when all non essential activities on the ward will cease and the nurses, therapists and ward assistants will concentrate on serving food and providing help to those patients who need it. The second initiative is called the Red cone, which is provided to patients who need special help from staff at mealtimes. Please ask the ward staff if you want to know more about the above.