In 1993, I spent a long time in hospital recovering from the road traffic accident that left me with a crushed pelvis, punctured lung, and an amputated leg. Being in hospital had a profound and lifelong impact on my diet – it’s what inspired me to become vegan and experience how healing a healthy, nutritionally-rich diet can be. Improving the catering options in hospitals is something I’m hugely passionate about.

I know the NHS isn’t in a strong place at the minute and while the issues around staffing and funding have to be looked at, I think the catering does too. People go to hospital to heal and get better, and that becomes so much harder when they’re not being offered high quality, nutritional food.

Mina Holland recently published an article for the Guardian highlighting the dangers of poor quality hospital food and the effect this can have on our experience and healing journeys. Dr Justine Butler, head of research at Viva Charity, also runs the Vegan Hospital Food – Hits & Misses page on Facebook which shares the reality that patients are facing when it comes to their hospital food (which is where I got this pic) – both really good resources if you’re looking to educate yourselves on these shortcomings.

I’m not alone in this opinion either. Plants First Healthcare has recently launched a campaign which highlights that adopting plant-based meals in hospitals and making them the default choice (with meat and dairy options available) could save the NHS £74 million annually while providing healthier options for patients and reducing food-related emissions by up to 50%. These savings could then be better allocated to staffing costs and wages which might even incentivise the future generations to go into this line of work.

If you agree that something has to change, why not read the Plants First Healthcare letter and send it on to Amanda Pritchard, CEO of NHS England – all you have to do is click the ‘take action’ button found in the link in my bio and a pre written email template will pop up ready for you to add your name to. I don’t want to attack our brilliant healthcare system, but surely something needs to be done?