CARE homes spend a daily average of just £2.44 per person feeding “slop” to elderly residents
Bagot, Martin . The Daily Mirror ; London (UK) [London (UK)]25 Jan 2019: 9.
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CARE homes spend a daily average of just £2.44 per person feeding “slop” to elderly residents.
It means families are paying around £30,000 a year to have frail relatives served a diet of cheap convenience food such as packet soup and Angel Delight.
The shocking findings come from a study of nine privately run homes.
In the worst case, the food and drink bill was just £2.15 a day – a similar amount to that spent on prison inmates.
Gary FitzGerald, of Action on Elder Abuse, said: “We believe it’s a warning sign for more serious abuse and neglect.
“If a home can’t be bothered to feed residents properly, where else are they prepared to cut corners?” Norman Dinsdale, who conducted the study for Sheffield Hallam University, found some residents being served little more than “gruel”.
The senior hospitality management lecturer told the Mirror, which is campaigning for better social care: “At the lower end the quality is absolutely shocking. It was just slop on a plate.
“For people living with dementia, nourishing food and drink is essential.
“This is not enough to adequately feed and hydrate a frail dementia patient whose only joy in the day is sitting down for something to eat. I am convinced this is prevalent throughout the country and something needs to be done.”
The findings come from detailed interviews with caterers and managers.
Private firms now run most homes.
They are paid less for council-funded residents, so homes with fewer “self payers” tend to have fewer resources.
Three homes in the survey were high-end units for mainly self-funders and had higher quality food. Some even served wine with meals, spending up to £5.50 a day. But once these homes were discounted, the daily food cost per resident nose dived to £2.44.
Carolione Abrahams, of Age UK, said: “The crisis in social care is putting huge pressure on providers to cut costs to the bone. It’s hard to imagine these are the only homes forced to make these types of difficult decisions.” Mr Dinsdale, who spent 40 years in the hospitality industry, said: “At the lower end there was limited or no choice. For breakfast it might be Weetabix. There was a high use of convenience foods such as packet soups rather than fresh. For dessert there was Angel Delight-type stuff, jelly or cakes.”
George McNamara, director at Independent Age, said: “It’s disgraceful homes think they can spend so little.”
Shadow Care Minister Barbara Keeley called it “upsetting and shameful”.
State funding for social care has fallen by 27% since 2010 and a broken partprivatised market system has caused standards to plummet. In England, those in residential care face having to spend all savings and assets – including the value of their house – above £14,000.
A Health Department spokesman said: “We have tough inspections to make sure services meet standards and have given the Care Quality Commission powers to crack down on poor practice.”
European care workers must be able to continue to come to the UK to work after Brexit, Age UK has urged ministers. It said the workforce is already struggling and shutting the door on EU workers would make a “bad situation even worse”.
martin.bagot@mirror.co.uk @MartinBagot
VOICE OF THE MIRROR: PAGE 8
What Mirror wants..
National Care System to run alongside the NHS. Carers paid Living Wage. An end to home visits of 15 minutes or less.
Increase in the carers’ allowance.
Volunteering network to help the elderly.
Appoint a Minister for the Elderly.
A national commission on how to fund the care revolution.
A NURSING home which boasted of restaurant-style dining allegedly served up a slice of ham with a handful of frozen chips.
Diane Thompson, 58, shamed Claremont Parkway care home in Kettering, Northants, over food she claims it served mum Mary, 79.
Its brochure boasted “delicious appetising menus” but Diane said the meal was “disgusting”.
Claremont insisted residents were happy with the standard of food.
CREDIT: BY MARTIN BAGOT Health and Science Correspondent
CAPTION: ON THE CHEAP Elderly sit down to eat; ‘disgusting’ Slice of ham with a handful of frozen chips
DETAILS
A FALLER AT 2ND
Crerar, Pippa.The Daily Mirror; London (UK) [London (UK)]13 Mar 2019: 4.
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BREXIT SHAMBLES: WE’RE HEADING FOR A DELAY Theresa May loses another vote as MPs look to take control [Edition 2]
THERESA May’s ever-dwindling authority finally collapsed last night as she surrendered control of Brexit to MPs after losing another vote.
The PM’s premiership hung in the balance when her deal to quit the EU suffered a catastrophic second Commons defeat, by a majority of 149.
She immediately offered a free vote to Tory MPs on leaving with a no-deal, which means Brexit, due in just 16 days’ time, could be delayed beyond March 29 if they reject the proposal.
Ministers will this morning publish bombshell documents on the impact of crashing out on import taxes and the Irish border Backstop.
With Britain thrust into deeper uncertainty and crisis, the warnings could lead to a fall in the pound.
Labour claimed the PM’s offer of a free vote on no-deal was a sign the Government had lost control.
Shadow Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner said after last night’s defeat: “This shows Theresa May has given up any pretence of leading the country.” The PM came under pressure from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and her own backbenchers to call a general election after the latest Brexit fiasco.
Tory grandee Charles Walker, who is close to the PM, said an election should follow “as night follows day”.
He added: “She has to get a new mandate for the sake of the country. Needs must when the devil drives. We cannot go on trying to govern like this.”
But a No 10 spokesman ruled it out.
He said: “We are not preparing for and do not want a general election.”
Mrs May’s second vote on her Brexit deal came after she made a last-minute dash to Strasbourg for crisis talks to get more concessions.
The PM insisted she had secured rabbit out hat, she “legal assurances” on changes to ensure the UK would not be permanently trapped in the controversial Irish border Backstop.
Cabinet gave its backing to the agreement, with Mrs May concluding by saying, ominously: “Today is the day.”
But the move still failed to convince Brexiteers. And Attorney General Geoffrey Cox drove the final nail into the coffin, concluding that while the changes reduced the risk, they did not rule it out entirely.
Tory MP Nigel Evans said: “The PM of the brought it did pull a rabbit out of the hat, she brought it back to Britain and the Attorney General shot it.”
Boris Johnson warned the PM’s plan had “reached the end of the road” and argued for a devastating no-deal departure instead. He said before the vote: “If it is rejected tonight I hope that it will be put to bed.”
When the DUP, which props up the PM’s fragile government, said they would not support it defeat was certain.
The Tory Brexiteer European Research Group of MPs also voted against, suggesting they would only back it if Brexit was at threat.
Mrs May’s deal was defeated by 391 votes to 242, less than the 230 blow inflicted back in January. Just three Labour MPs voted for Mrs May – Caroline Flint, John Mann and Sir Kevin Barron – and while a number of Tories switched to back her plan, 75 along with 10 DUP voted against it.
One Tory MP turned up for the poll in black tie, telling colleagues it was what they wore on the Titanic.
Mrs May is understood to have discussed the possibility of a “short extension” with Brussels chiefs.
EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has suggested delaying Brexit until the European elections at the end of May. But he insisted there would be no further negotiations on the Backstop. He added: “In politics, sometimes you get a second chance. It is what we do with the second chance that counts. Because there will be no third chance.”
Many MPs admitted they had “priced in” the defeat, believing Mrs May would bring it back to the Commons one last time.
Cabinet minister Alun Cairns said: “I don’t think this is the end of the deal necessarily.”
However, No 10 insiders admitted the PM now had limited control over the process.
A cross-party group led by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tory Nick Boles, were already planning to take control of the Parliamentary timetable.
The PM, her voice hoarse after late night negotiations, warned MPs of the consequences of delaying Brexit.
She said: “Let me be clear. Voting against leaving without a deal and for an extension does not solve the problems we face.”
She told MPs they now faced “unenviable choices” between a second referendum, an alternative deal or cancelling Brexit.
The PM added: “It would be no good blaming the EU, responsibility would lie with this House. We failed to come together in the national interest.” Many were furious Mrs May had given them a vote to take no-deal off the table, but insisted it remained the default option if they did not agree a deal or an extension.
The wording of her motion means that only by voting for a deal or a delay will MPs effectively take the threat of crashing out without an agreement off the table.
Philip Hammond will today make his Spring Statement on the British economy, which is showing increasing signs of stress as a result of the Brexit uncertainty.
Annual growth dropped to a six-year low of 1.4% in 2018, with economists warning the slowdown would continue this year unless a Brexit deal was agreed. It has also led to banks moving jobs, operations and £900billion of assets out of the UK to other EU states.
Growing numbers of British companies are preparing to cuts jobs or put hiring plans on hold.
Migration from the EU – often of students and skilled workers – has fallen since the 2016 referendum. Property experts have blamed the uncertainty for causing buyers and sellers to sit tight, causing a slowdown in the housing market.
The Chancellor is expected to offer billions of pounds for public services if MPs vote against a no-deal Brexit.
pippa.crerar@mirror.co.uk @PippaCrerar