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Food/nutrition/catering

Posted By pavocg86

"Food/nutrition/catering"

About: Altnagelvin Area Hospital / North West Cancer Centre

(as the patient),

Breakfast is cold white bread with margarine on it and it is disgusting and inedible.

Meant to be choice of brown bread but rarely available.

Breakfast would be the main issue. 

Lack of fresh fruit and vegetables and choice.

Cannot see why you cannot have hot toast instead of cold, why why is there not butter available?

Cold cereal and milk, rice krispies and cornflakes with no nutritional value as such.

Porridge & water and not warm or hot, doesn't taste of salt or sugar it tastes like nothing.

No fresh fruit orange juice, no options for breakfast, terrible.

Bearing in mind cancer patients have infections, and should be tempted to eat but is not the case.

Resorted to ordering food myself.

Catering for one self, catering for self for breakfast because food is so terrible. Don't understand why it's came to the situation that i have to cater for myself.

Not great options for lunch & dinner either, mainly chicken. 
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Responses

Response from Joanne Daly, Support Service Manager Altnagelvin Hospital, Performance and Service Improvement, Western Health & Social Care Trust 2 weeks ago
Joanne Daly
Support Service Manager Altnagelvin Hospital, Performance and Service Improvement,
Western Health & Social Care Trust

Submitted on 13/01/2026 at 13:53
Published on Care Opinion at 13:53

My name is Joanne Daly I am the Support Services Manager for Altnagelvin with responsibility for catering services. I am very sorry to learn that this has been your experience of catering while you have been an inpatient, and I appreciate you taking the time to raise your concerns.

In the first instance, may I suggest that you speak with the nursing staff who are caring for you on the ward. The nursing team take patients’ meal choices daily and liaise directly with the catering department. This ensures that patients special request or special dietary requests/allergens are met. They may be able to support you in resolving some of the issues you have experienced. For example, both white and brown bread are available on the ward each day, In addition, we offer a range of fresh fruit daily, including apples, oranges, and bananas. When the nursing staff take your meal order, they should be able to record these specific preferences for you. If a requested item does not arrive as expected, I would be very happy to arrange for you to meet with one of our catering managers to discuss this further. I would also like to reassure you that all patient meals have been reviewed and approved by our dietetic team. Our patient menu operates on a two-week cycle and has been carefully assessed to ensure it is nutritionally balanced and supports patients’ recovery. Please feel free to discuss additional items such as cheese and crackers or pancakes for example and discuss when nursing staff ask for your choices.

Once again, I am sorry that your experience has not met expectations. Please do not hesitate to raise any further concerns with the nursing team or, should the need arise, I would be happy to facilitate a discussion with our catering management team.

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