The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Wednesday, December 23, 1992 — Patients at the United Bulawayo Hospitals say the food they are served is so poor that they are forced to buy their own or ask relatives to bring some during visiting hours.

The patients, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the food at the hospital was almost always badly cooked. In addition, they said, the quantities served were very small.

“If you do not have relatives who can bring food for you while you are here you can starve to death. Besides the fact that the portions are small, half the time you can’t eat the food served,” said one patient who said she had been at the hospital for about a week.

Another patient said the meals were always made up of a small piece of meat in watery soup and a small lump of hard sadza. One patient from Masvingo said since she was brought to the hospital two weeks ago she had been buying food from a tuck shop on the premises or giving money to relatives to buy food in town.

“As it is I have run out of money and I have just called my husband to send some more,” she added.

Most of the patients interviewed said a lot could be done to improve the diet. It was the general feeling among the patients that it would be difficult for them to recover on a poor diet. Some said doctors had ordered that they get specific high protein diets but they still received the same food over and over.