NHS Fruitcakes
‘ONE thing that could kill you faster than cigarettes, booze or the MRSA superbug is that sponge cake the women from the Womens Institute have just brought you.
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| For the ‘cherry jam’ filling, Cynthia used an old swab and some left over haemorrhoids |
The Telegraph says that for years the WI have been baking cakes for the bed-bound, delivering the candied fruits of their labours to the Saffron Walden Community Hospital in darkest Essex.
But no more. Officials at Uttlesford Primary Care Trust, which oversees the clinic, says that, because the WI members kitchens cannot be inspected by environmental health officers, potential risks cannot be eliminated.
A spokesman for the Trust was quick to try and sugar the pill (We are in no way suggesting the cakes the WI has kindly provided us are unsafe), but the damage has been done.
WI master sponge maker Marion Gillon is upset.
There has been no disease in my family coming from anything I have cooked, says she.
Its ridiculous, adds WI member Kath Brown. We are still allowed to bake for the WI to sell at places like the Essex Show, so what is wrong with the patients eating them?
What, indeed?
Given that, as the Telegraphs leader reminds us, a recent survey found that four in ten patients leaving hospital were suffering from malnutrition, the decision to remove a supplementary Victoria sponge from the diet seems odd.
Perhaps the good ladies of Saffron Walden could change their recipe a little to adhere to NHS standards like adding a dash of listeria here and a splash of operating room floor juice there.’
Posted: 29th, July 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
