THE Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) yesterday said that they are preparing nutritious and healthy meals by a specialised dietician for patients, following complaints that the meals given to patients were not wholesome. In a statement from its Public Relations Department, the GPHC said it has been brought to the attention of management that some complaints have been lodged both in the media (CN Sharma’s programme – Voice of the People) and at the hospital’s Clients Relations Office regarding the quality and portions of meals that are served to patients of the hospital.
GPHC management wishes to state unequivocally that for the past year, the quality of meals prepared for patients has improved tremendously and anyone who refutes this statement is not being genuine or has not recently consumed it.
The hospital has employed a qualified and very competent dietician whose mandate is to prepare quality and healthy meals for patients, in the portions which will contribute to their overall improvement.
It must be stated boldly that the hospital is in the business of providing holistic healthcare to its patients inclusive of clinical care, physiotherapy, social therapy and a healthy diet; as such it does not prepare international cuisine or home-cooked meals which often contain preservatives, a lot of salt, saturated fat and oils, which are not healthy and does not lend to the speedy recovery of the patient – one of the main goals of the hospital. Those patients who have grouses with the meals that they receive are predominantly those who are ‘bent in their ways’ and are accustomed to those home-cooked meals and fast foods.
The hospital’s meals are prepared in accordance with the ‘prescribed diet’ by the Physician, particularly for those diabetic patients who would have accounted for 20.7% of the medical patients warded in the hospital in 2011.
The hospital is seeking to improve and restore the overall health and well-being of all patients, so health talks and mini-fairs are held at the Medical clinic and other venues in and around the hospital ever so often in this attempt. Management, therefore, urges people to be open to lifestyle changes which will inevitably result in their longevity.