Repatriation Hospital: Patients complain of ‘disgusting’ meals in re-opened facility

Meals served to patients at Adelaide's reopened Repatriation Hospital have been described as "disgusting" and "inedible".

SA Health has apologised for problems with the food service, blaming a supplier for the sub-standard meals, after patients complained about the "dry, bland" offerings.

Mandy Jamieson was one of the first patients to move in and said the food was so bad she wouldn't even feed it to her dog.

"It's pretty disgusting," she told 9News.

Ms Jamieson said she's struggled to stomach the meals, taking to social media to vent her frustration.

Food was sourced from neighbouring aged and residential care sites after complaints peaked over the weekend.

"It's not edible. It's bland, there's no sauce, it's dry, it sticks to your mouth. You just can't swallow it," Ms Jamieson said.

The mother-of-three needs a modified diet, but now she's considering supplying her own food.

"Patients in our hospitals deserve to receive nutritious meals and for patients to be receiving some pretty inedible things that I wouldn't want to eat, or have any of my family eat, is pretty concerning," Opposition Spokesman Chris Picton says.

SA Health concedes there has been teething problems with meals since patients returned here to the Repat, but it insists changes have been made to improve the food.

Aged care provider ACH Group supplies food to the ward, which now houses 20 long-term patients.

"Our apologies have been put to them and we think that food is a basic necessity," Catherine Hughes from SA Health says.

"We would only expect the highest quality. It's very disappointing to me to hear that hasn't happened."

Health Minister Stephen Wade claims the opposition is criticising the government to distract from its health failures