Hospital Patients Ate 1745 Meals Daily

Chronicle (Levin), 17 May 1949, Page 3

Hospital Patients Ate 1745 Meals Daily

Tlie average number of meals supplied per day to patients and staff, at the Palmerston North Hospital, during the past year was 1745 as against 1653 in the preeeding year, stated Mr A. J. Phillipps, managing-seeretary, in his report to the annual meeting of the Palmerston North Hospital Board yesterday. There has been a fall in the eonsumption of meat and fish while the consumption of other main food items remains fairly eonstant. The cost of millc purchased apart from what is supplied by hospital 's fai*m in 1948-49 was £1533 as against £1573 in the preeeding year. The total value of milk. and cream supplied from the farm during 1947-48 was £2394. as against £1727 for the year 1948-49. " It is partieularly interesting to notice that the effect of butter rationing and price stabilisation has been to reduce the expenditure on butter from 15.4 per cent of the total expenditure on provisions in the year 1936-37, to 6.1 per cent of the total expenditure in 1948-49," said Mr Phillipps. "The percentage of expenditure on meat and lish remains fairly eonstant at just under one-third the total cost bf provisions. Bread during the last year aecounted for a little' over 5 per cent of the totai cost and it is of interest to note that the consumption of bread has not increased propor^ionately as the number of meals have increased over recent years. The expenditure on potatoes has been 4.1 pejj cent of the total expenditure on provisions. This is largely due to the fact that the average price of potatofes has inereased substantially over the period in respeet of which these details were prepared." Mr Phillipps submitted figures to show that each patient consumed during 300 meal3, 16.641bs of bread, 3.031bs of butter, 19.831bs of fish and meat, 16.59 Lbs of potatoes, 4.161bs of sugar, 1.36ibs of jam, honey and syrup, 51.39 pints ' of -milk.