Maggot soup and earwig sangas as patients complain about FMC food
Flinders Medical Centre’s new catering contractor has served patients meals with unwanted extras ranging from maggots and earwigs to plastic and dental floss.
SA News
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From a maggot in soup and an earwig in a sandwich to vegetarians being served meat, Flinders Medical Centre patients have faced menu roulette under a new caterer.
More than 600 patient complaints or incidents were logged with the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network last year, including potentially disastrous cases of patients being given meals which may trigger severe allergic reactions.
There were cases of raw fish and undercooked chicken being served and of coeliacs receiving meals with gluten.
While some incidents logged appear trivial – such as Rice Bubbles being served instead of Cornflakes – they do not comply with meal plans devised by dietitians for patients.
There were multiple cases of patients refusing to eat because meals were described as “disgusting”, with stringy meat, liquid jelly or being the wrong order.
There were also numerous cases of meals not arriving, including one night when the entire Intensive and Critical Care Unit missed out, as well as one patient who did not receive dinner or breakfast the following day.
In September, a furious man told hospital staff his wife was vomiting in the toilet after discovering what she thought was chicken was actually pork.
“We told the lady 2-3 times we are Muslim, no pork,” the man told staff, as recorded in an incident report.
Staff apologised and offered the woman a vegetarian diet, the husband refused and instead packed his wife’s remaining meals.
Foreign objects found in meals included hair, plastic, bones, an earwig, a fly, a maggot, small green insects and “string/dental floss”. An “unsafe dessert” was plated for 35 meals.
One patient complained he was sick of being served two party pies for dinner every night, another waited three hours for a vegetarian meal while complaints were also logged about dirty jugs and cups.
A Southern Adelaide Local Health Network spokesman told the Sunday Mail that Flinders Medical Centre commenced a new catering contract with ISS Australia in May 2019.
“We are aware that there were some teething issues during this transition,” he said.
“We are pleased to say that we have worked closely with ISS to improve the quality and timeliness of meals, and have significantly reduced the number of food-related complaints as a result. We apologise to any patients who were inconvenienced during this time.”
ISS Australia’s website states it “provides nutritionally balanced meals to patients and visitors in many hospitals”.
“To us, catering is about creating the right environment for people to thrive, not just a question of feeding people,” it says.
“We serve thousands of meals every day, to a variety of tastes and budgets. We employ executive chefs and nutrition experts, who work with us and our customers to find a flexible catering solution to suit the required budget, logistics and meal requirements.”