A patient at the José Frota Institute (IJF) in Fortaleza, Brazil, narrowly avoided consuming a plastic glove found in her meal. The incident occurred on Friday, November 18th, when Eliciane Nascimento, the caregiver for the elderly patient, discovered the foreign object while preparing the fish served for dinner.
The patient, who has been hospitalized for 28 days with a broken femur awaiting surgery, was about to be fed when Nascimento noticed the glove. She promptly alerted a nearby nursing technician, who advised her to report the issue to the Social Service. However, Nascimento was than directed to the Nutrition department, and subsequently to the IJF’s Ombudsman. Due to the Ombudsman’s office being closed on the weekend, the family is expected to file a formal complaint on Monday, November 21st.
Nascimento described the reaction of hospital staff who were informed of the discovery as “horrified.” She also noted that the replacement meal provided to the patient, a porridge, was excessively sweet, a recurring issue with the hospital’s food, which she characterized as either “very sweet or very salty.”
In response to the incident, the IJF stated that it is aware of the situation and has notified the outsourced company responsible for meal supply to provide a formal description.the institute also emphasized that its nutrition team continuously monitors the processes for the more than 6,000 meals served daily.
