Hospital food

Hospitals will have different ways of providing gluten free foods in hospital.

In Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital the catering department produce gluten free menus which outline all that is available. These menus are buff coloured and are produced as part of a 7 day cycle. These menus are available to the wards automatically each day and you should ask the nurse or ward assistant to provide you with one of these menus so that you can choose the correct meal.

Gluten Free bread and biscuits are available as part of the menu selection or on request by the ward staff from the catering department.

You may be interested to know that all dishes in the hospital are cooked without stock cubes and the casserole dishes are thickened with cornflour. Therefore you are often able to eat exactly the same food as anyone else.

Emergency Admission

Ward staff should contact the catering department to request a gluten free meal as soon as they know that you require one. However we do suggest that you take a small supply of biscuits and crackers to tide you over should your admission be outside normal catering department hours.

What you can do to help

If you know that you are going into hospital then you may want to let the nurses know that you will require a gluten free meal before you go in. Remember that some wards will only meet one coeliac each year and therefore may not be familiar with the system. You could suggest that they contact the catering department or the dietitian if they are unsure of the requirements.

If you require a meal that is restricted in another way other than just ‘gluten free’ then it is best to phone the dietetic department directly. The nurses should do this.

If you have a bad experience then please let us know. We have provided training sessions in response to problems in the past. Obviously as new staff arrive then more training is required. We know from feedback that this has helped but we are also aware that with changes in staff or changes in ‘gluten free guidance’ that we need to continue to raise awareness.

Useful phone numbers 
01902 695335 (Dietetic Department) 
01902 307999 ext 8615 (Catering department) 
01902 695362 (Patient Advisory and Liaison office)

Jane McKiernan Head of Nutrition and Dietetics 
Jan 2006

Address
Gluten Free Food in Hospital
New Cross Hospital 
Wednesfield 
Wolverhampton