Vegans in hospitals and care homes - guidelines for patients

Before you arrive at the hospital or care home

If you know in advance that you will be admitted to hospital, make sure that the catering staff are aware that you are vegan before you arrive. They may need a few days notice to order in food for you. The Vegan Society's 'Vegan Catering Guide for hospitals and care homes' can be downloaded from the leaflets and booklets page, or please contact us if you would like a free paper copy to give to the hospital or care home catering managers.

After you are admitted

When you are admitted to hospital, you should be asked about your dietary requirements. If there are no vegan dishes on the standard menu, ask to speak to the catering manager so that you can explain your dietary needs. Communication between the ward staff and the kitchen can be poor, so while there may be a range of vegan options available, the ward staff may well be unaware of them.Some hospitals and care homes rarely have a vegan patient to cater for so will welcome suggestions:

Supply them with our hospital and care homes catering guide. Contact us for copies.
If you have favourite dishes make a list to provide a few ideas to get them started. Include recipes if possible.

Eating outside of set meal times

Some hospitals have introduced snack boxes and other options for patients to eat outside of normal meal times. Ask a staff member what your hospital’s policy is on this.

Complaints

If you are using an NHS hospital, or if the NHS has paid for your treatment in a private hospital, you can use the NHS complaints procedure.

For private hospital treatment, you should complain first to the provider. If you need to take further action, you can seek advice from the

Independent Healthcare Advisory Service

www.independenthealthcare.org.uk

020 7379 8598

If you are in a care home, your provider must have a complaints procedure and they must give you details of it. If your care is provided by a local authority, you can use the local authority complaints procedure. You can also use the local authority complaints procedure if it arranged the home for you, or if it pays for all or part of the cost.