DIETING PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17180, 25 October 1923, Page 6

DIETING PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL.

The task of assisting Nature in the healing profession is so largely a matter of scientific dieting that it is veryrefreshing to find the Hospital Board appointing a highly qualified dietitian to supervise the cooking arrangements at the Hospital. The appointment marks a new era in the treatment of patients, for it is obvious that the Board and the staff must now study individual requirements in, the light of the latest medical knowledge on dieting, for it is hardly necessary to say that the dietitian, like the head dispenser, will work in accordance with the directions of the medical men in charge of particular cases. Everybody can appreciate the value of appetising 'morsels or dishes in coaxing a patient back to health, and conversely it goes without saying that unappetising or unsuitable food, pushed away- with nausea, constitutes a decided set-back to the patient, both physically and mentally. It used to be a standing reproach to the Christchurch Hospital, and it maybe so still, that the deadly sameness of the diet, for all classes of patients, made the institution one to be escaped from at the earliest possible opportunity. Under the new scheme of tilings any suggestion of the workhouse touch should disappear, while there need be no fear of coddling or inordinate expense.' On the contrary, a highly trained dietitian should be able to effect distinct economies by eliminating waste food or wasteful food, and in shortening the average stay of the patient in hospital. But of course the question is" not primarily one of economy, since the recovery of the patients has to be considered first. It mayeven be that the new system will cost a little more, but the hospital authorities must move with the times; and lliev are to be congratulated on the almost unanimous decision they have come to on the matter.