An elderly diabetic double amputee with a kidney transplant was served his vital morning meal nearly three hours late on Tuesday at the Calvary Hospital the patient's daughter says, a sign the institution's catering issues are yet to be resolved.
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The hospital called in its recently appointed caterers, Spotless, for urgent meetings on Tuesday and accepted that some patients were receiving their meals late, which relatives say is leaving their health at risk.
75-year-old diabetic John McEnaney was concerned by the incident according to his daughter Jackie Baxter.
"My dad's a diabetic and has been for 46 years, both of his legs are amputated from below the knee and he has had a kidney transport due to his diabetes.
"Dad normally has breakfast at 7am, but at 25 past nine this morning he rang up in a panic saying 'I haven't had my breakfast, I haven't had my breakfast'," Ms Baxter said.
Ms Baxter said her father, John needed his breakfast early in the morning to manage his sugar levels.
"He began to panic and got very concerned. His blood sugar levels dropped," she said.
She said he finally received his meal at 9.40am.
"But it was cold and he could hardly eat it," she said.
Ms Baxter said her mother then rushed to the hospital to bring her husband food which she said "brought him back to planet earth".
The contract with Spotless has seen them take over catering for both the public and private sections of the hospital.
Mr McEnaney's complaints come in the wake of warnings that the new catering was not satisfactory, issued by Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation secretary Jenny Miragaya late last week.
A spokesman for the hospital confirmed "important" meetings with the caterers were held on Tuesday to discuss the situation.
"Calvary Health Care ACT and Spotless are continuing to enhance patient meal services at Calvary," a spokesman said.
When asked about Mr McEnaney's case, the hospital spokesman declined to comment on specific cases.
He did confirm, however, that the catering was a problem.
"Late meal service to some clinical areas has occurred on occasions," the spokesman said.
Ms Miragaya, who represents nurses and midwives at the hospital, said there had been issues in the quality and quantity of meals, their timeliness and the delivery of the correct meals to patients.
"Timeliness can be of considerable import for some patients, particularly those who are insulin-dependent diabetics, and who require medications to be given at specific times," she told The Canberra Times last week.
Also last week, a hospital spokesman said the catering issues did not pose any risks for people with diabetes or allergies.
On Tuesday, Ms Miragaya said she was not aware of Ms Baxter's complaints but understood nursing staff would be making sure any catering issues "were logged and rectified:".
"There were certainly delays in meals, and I understand the hospital is discussing the issues with the caterer," she said.
Last week, the ACT government and opposition weighed in, expressing their concern.
A spokesman for ACT Health Minister Simon Corbell confirmed the government would be investigating whether the catering problems were compromising the quality of care at the Calvary.
ACT Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson said it would be disappointing if catering issues were not a priority in any hospital.
"Nutrition in hospital is recognised as a vital element of patient recovery and I urge all hospitals in the ACT to make every effort to provide good meals to their patients," he said last week.
Spotless catering was contacted for comment but a spokeswoman directed inquiries to the Calvary Hospital.
