For many people, sitting around a table for a nice civilized lunch is something they take for granted,,, however in the hospital where I work, lunch is a much more  individual affair….today, however was different…

This week had been pretty hectic at work. We have a total of 27 patients, across 4 Bays, 2 of which are male and two female. There are some patients which we need to keep more of an eye on as they like to go for little walks up and down the corridors, and anywhere else they can get to so, they are put in the two bays that are closest to the Nurse’s station. As all of them are elderly, and many unsteady on their feet, it can sometimes be pretty difficult with the number of staff we have, to keep a constant watch on them, particularly as we still have lots of other patients that also need our care and attention.

Although it is not unusual for us to have a few restless patients, this week we had another two patients that had been admitted to the Ward,along with the other four that were already there, so the staff were playing ‘hide and seek’ quite a lot!

Around the patient’s lunch time, as I was walking down the Ward, I happened to look into the ‘Boys’ Bay, and was greeted by an unusual sight. Someone had commandeered a large table from the office and it was plonked down in the middle of the Bay. A crisp, clean white sheet, fresh from the linen cupboard had been used as a rather nice table cloth; About six patients of both genders we sitting around the table, (these were the patients that liked to roam around); most of the women were sporting rather fetching white plastic, disposable aprons , while the men opted for the large, square inco pad tucked into the front of their nightshirt in order to keep themselves clean. The nurses were their waiting staff, cutting up their food, and serving them drinks etc and everything seemed to go very well.

I stood there for a minute, and was truly touched by the sight of them all sitting there together enjoying their meal. Ok, they might not have been talking to each other much, but they seemed relaxed and settled AND they were eating! This was so good to see, as it can be so difficult trying to encourage many of our patients to eat, The fact that these patients were sitting down together also gave the rest of us chance to feed our own patients without interruption.

A few years ago patients eating lunch together would have been an ordinary occurrence as most Wards had a Day Room, or somewhere that this could happen, but now, for various reasons, they have all gone and have been replaced by more beds -which seems such a shame. Such a simple, everyday event, yet it seemed to give such pleasure.