"Lack of food for breakfast "

I was visiting a dear friend of mine in Kent and Canterbury Hospital at breakfast time. He was asked by a Serco employee what he wanted for breakfast, he asked for porridge, a staple diet for those in hospital, and for a man who is unable to tackle any other food, very nutrious. Only he was told "sorry, no porridge", why? " We were told, by the employee that they hadn't got there early enough to get sufficient quantities that morning, and there was none left. Bearing in mind that Serco should have allowed for a full ward- and that most patients prefer porridge, this was unacceptable.

I did ask them to find some on another ward- but the employee was reluctant to do this. How appalling. So, my friend was expected to go without. Where has the care gone? When I was a student nurse working on the wards, we made our own breakfasts up for the patients.

Serco seem to forget that hospitals have patients with varying needs, and believe it or not, wards do get full of patients- but only up to capacity, so they should allow for this.

The wards are not even allowed a kettle, so we couldn't even have taken some sachets of porridge in for him to have. And, the Government is 'shocked' that patients are malnourished in hospitals. I'm not.