Sounds like common sense to me but has been trialled and is now a newsworthy "thing".
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-41124850
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-41124850
Nursing Homes Boost Food Calories to Tackle Malnutrition
- Thread starter HillyBilly
- Start date
News?? My mother's NH has been doing that for years. In the early days when my mother could eat herself and we stayed for a meal once I was nearly sick with the cream laden soup and dessert.
Mum is in hospital and she says the portions are much bigger and the food much better than what she was getting in her care home , which we've removed her from.
I helped her with her menu card the other day and there are boxes to tick if you want a small portion otherwise you get a standard portion.
Mum's biggest worry about not going back to her care home is the little lady she sits next to for meals. They take her food away because she can barely feed herself and nobody helps her. It's a disgrace and will be on my list of complaints when I contact CQC.
It just goes to show how homes vary. At the one my wife's in the food wastage is incredible, even the staff and visitors don't go hungry.
The portions are maybe a bit small but even then many of the residents don't eat it all, anyone who does finish it all gets offered more.
Breakfast choice is either; cooked bacon, sausages, beans, tomatoes, egg different combinations on different day. There's always; cereal, porridge, toast available too.
Lunch is 3 course; soup, choice of 2 meals and a dessert with ice cream and tinned or fresh fruit always available.
Evening meal is a full meal too but the main course is a bit lighter than lunch but still 3 courses. Add to that the 10.30, 2.30, 7.20 tea and biscuits/cake rounds but they're all available on demand any time.
I often sit down with the staff while they're feeding the residents and have a bacon butty and I'm always asked if I want a meal when I'm feeding my wife.
Everyone gets assisted eating if they need it we have 9 staff to 30 residents, about 10 need assistance to eat and it's all documented who fed them and what they had in the blue folder on top of the microwave in the units food serving are for anyone who wants to see it.
K
The portions are maybe a bit small but even then many of the residents don't eat it all, anyone who does finish it all gets offered more.
Breakfast choice is either; cooked bacon, sausages, beans, tomatoes, egg different combinations on different day. There's always; cereal, porridge, toast available too.
Lunch is 3 course; soup, choice of 2 meals and a dessert with ice cream and tinned or fresh fruit always available.
Evening meal is a full meal too but the main course is a bit lighter than lunch but still 3 courses. Add to that the 10.30, 2.30, 7.20 tea and biscuits/cake rounds but they're all available on demand any time.
I often sit down with the staff while they're feeding the residents and have a bacon butty and I'm always asked if I want a meal when I'm feeding my wife.
Everyone gets assisted eating if they need it we have 9 staff to 30 residents, about 10 need assistance to eat and it's all documented who fed them and what they had in the blue folder on top of the microwave in the units food serving are for anyone who wants to see it.
K
That sounds very good Kevin. Mum got either a slice of toast or porridge for breakfast with a cup of tea. lunch wasn't too bad if the proper cook was in but she only worked a few days a week so the rest of the week it was one of the other staff who just heated up frozen something. Even when the cook was there they only ever got one vegetable. Tea was always either a small sausage roll or a round of sandwiches and a small piece of cake
Or a small yoghourt. If I ever took Mum in something nice like an egg custard or a cream eclair then they would give her that INSTEAD of their own cake. She was lucky if she saw fruit twice a week.
I know a woman who used to be cook there and she said everything they bought in was the budget range and always the same week after week. She suggested that they bought fresh fruit and veg from a farm stall just round the corner as it was local and fresh and very reasonable. She even offered to collect it on her way to work but they wouldn't hear of it.