A Harley Street consultant has slammed the NHS for serving his father ‘ultra-processed junk’ food after a major operation on his sinuses.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a consultant cardiologist at ROC Private Clinic in Marylebone, London, raged about a local hospital which provided his father Dr Kailash Chand with a ‘disgraceful’ egg mayonnaise sandwich after surgery on Monday.
The outraged Edinburgh University-educated Dr Malhotra, best-selling author of The Pioppi Diet, shared a picture of the sandwich on Facebook this week.
It depicts an egg mayonnaise sandwich on white bread wrapped in plastic film, with a Vitale sticker printed on the packaging’s top left corner.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a consultant cardiologist at ROC Private Clinic in Marylebone, London, raged about a local hospital providing his father Dr Kailash Chand with a ‘disgraceful’ egg mayonnaise sandwich (pictured) after surgery on Monday
In the top right corner, it states that the sandwich, sliced neatly into quarters, contains 19.5g of fat, 3g of saturated fat, 3g of sugar, and 1g of salt.
Its use-by date appears to be February 17, the same day as Dr Chand’s operation.
On Facebook, Dr Malhotra thundered: ‘My dad’s just had a major operation (all ok) and this is the food he has been given to eat after regaining consciousness.
‘Why are patients still being served such disgraceful ultra-processed “food”??’
He then appeared to direct his ire at the NHS, saying: ‘When will the medical system acknowledge that nutritious food is essential to good recovery!!’
Harley Street consultant Dr Malhotra (left) slammed the NHS for serving his father Dr Chand (right) ‘ultra-processed junk’ food after a major operation on his sinuses
The sandwich, sliced neatly into quarters, contains 19.5g of fat, 3g of saturated fat, 3g of sugar, and 1g of salt. Its use-by date appears to be February 17, the same day as the operation
Later taking to Twitter, Dr Malhotra posted: ‘Ultra-processed junk that my dad was given in hospital ward post op. Why are patients still served such disgraceful meals when nutritious food is essential to good recovery?
‘If we really want to fix healthcare we need to fix the food @MattHancock’.
Dr Jagan John, a cardiologist, tweeted: ‘I agree with you Dr Malhotra – we should have a national patient charter for food quality in hospitals.
‘When patients are in their most vulnerable state we should encourage -good quality food as it aids their recovery.
‘And reduces bed days -many of my patients don’t eat in the hospital’.
Other social-media users flocked to Dr Malhotra’s post, with one claiming: ‘It’s all about money. Nutrition doesn’t come into it.
On Facebook (pictured), Dr Malhotra thundered: ‘My dad’s just had a major operation (all ok) and this is the food he has been given to eat after regaining consciousness. ‘Why are patients still being served such disgraceful ultra-processed “food”??’
Later taking to Twitter (pictured), Dr Malhotra also posted: ‘Ultra-processed junk that my dad was given in hospital ward post op. Why are patients still served such disgraceful meals when nutritious food is essential to good recovery?
Dr Chand, an honorary vice-president of the British Medical Association, responded to his son’s post but chose not to join in the condemnation (pictured)
‘And let’s remember that a significant part of the population would think this was nutritious because it’s the same crap as they’d eat at home’.
Another posted: ‘It’s more beige than a beige dead thing’.
One Twitter account lamented: ‘Because it’s cheap and the NHS can feed more patients with this rubbish sadly’.
@NorthForBritain wrote: ‘Bread has barely any nutrition other than calories. It has to have vitamins added to it because it’s so poor nutritionally.
‘Stay away from bread if you’re trying to recover’.
Dr Malhotra’s father is an honorary vice president of the British Medical Association and is the ex-chair of Tameside and Glossop NHS.
Dr Chand, an honorary vice-president of the British Medical Association, responded to his son’s post but chose not to join in the condemnation.
He wrote: ‘I am deeply grateful for the exceptional care I received from colleagues and NHS staff for my sinuses operation. This is the NHS at its best.’