Dietetics
We have a team of Dietitians at the San who can provide individualised nutritional care for our inpatients if needed. They provide specialised medical nutrition therapy following best practice guidelines. When you are admitted to the San our nursing staff will screen you for nutritional risk as part of a nursing assessment, and if warranted, refer you to see one of our clinical dietitians. Alternatively, you may need nutritional care, advice or education if your reason for admission has resulted in changes to your nutritional status or your dietary needs.
Good nutrition is important for developing and maintaining good health and wellbeing. Our dietitians will work with your medical team to support your nutritional needs and educate you if dietary management and change is required, with the aim of optimising your recovery.
The San Menu
We pride ourselves on providing a variety of fresh, tasty and nutritious meals to patients here at the San. Our food options are predominately vegetarian, believed - with supporting evidence - to be the preferred diet for good health. You will be able order a non-vegetarian hot main meal at both lunch and dinner to accommodate your personal preferences and needs. Certain foods, however, will not be available in accordance with the Seventh-day Adventist beliefs our hospital was founded upon. These items include pork, shellfish and alcoholic beverages.
Our menu is a 7-day rotating menu designed by our chefs, with guidance from our Accredited Dietitians, with each patient’s recovery and enjoyment in mind. The menu implements recommendations from both the ‘Australian Dietary Guidelines—providing the scientific evidence for healthier Australian diets’, published by the National Health and Medical Research Council (2013) and also ‘Nutrition Standard – for adult’s inpatients in NSW hospitals’, produced by Agency of Clinical Innovation (ACI) (2001).
These guidelines recommend that we enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods including:
- Plenty of vegetables, including different types and colours, and legumes/ beans
- Fruit
- Grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties
- Lean protein sources, including eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans
- Milks, yoghurts, cheese and/or alternatives. Mostly reduced fat (reduced fat milks are not suitable for children under the age of 2 years)
- Plenty of water.
And take care to:
- Limit foods high in saturated fats, and replace with foods which contain predominantly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats
- Limit intake of items containing added salt and added sugar
- Care for your food, prepare and store it safely
- Encourage, support, and promote breastfeeding.
We have provided you with some resources and a variety of our breakfast, soup, savoury and dessert recipes below.
Recipes and Resources
The San Food Services and Dietetics Department pride themselves on being able to create and produce a high-quality extensive vegetarian menu enjoyable for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian patients, visitors and staff members. Some of our most popular recipes are available for you to download below.
Our Dietitians have also developed a Vegetarian Information Pack to assist you in optimising nutrition. Should you require more individualised dietary advice we recommend you follow up with an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) in the community. To find an APD please visit www.dietitiansaustralia.org.au.
Introducing Solids to Babies Seminars
Our Dietitians run a monthly seminar aimed at families with babies aged approximately 4-6 months of age. The sessions cover:
- The what, when and how to introduce food
- Food allergies
- Tackling fussy eaters
- Advice for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian families
For dates, cost and bookings please see our Event Calendar.