“Truly disgusting”: Would you eat this? The food inside aged care facilities
An investigation looking into the meals served to some of the most vulnerable people in Australia has uncovered a sickening reality.
Food that wouldn’t be served to dogs is sadly being plated up as meals for elderly people living in Australia’s nursing homes, as budgets for aged care is slashed.
Four thousand people involved with aged care wrote to the ABC as part of its investigation into the system, with the first of the two-part series airing on Four Corners last night.
Concerned friends and family members sent in photographs of cheap and unhealthy meals, which included hot dogs with tomato sauce and watery soup.
Aged care worker Nicole* described one common dish, known as minced moist, as “truly disgusting” with a “horrible” smell.
As you sit down to dinner before watching part one of our @4corners collaborative investigation into #agedcare in Australia tonight, ask yourself: Would you eat this? #AgedCareRC #Royalcommission #4Corners pic.twitter.com/LE0yamOIT7
— 🦄 Flip Prior 🦄 (@FlipPrior) 17 September 2018
Elizabeth*, who is an aged care worker in Melbourne spoke of undercooked vegetables, hard carrots and potatoes and tough meat.
“Sadly, because of cutbacks it’s hard to retain good staff and resident meals suffer because no one really cares,” she said.
Would you eat this?
Take a look at the food served inside Australian #agedcare facilities before tonight's landmark investigation on #4Corners pic.twitter.com/NuUupDE4In— 4corners (@4corners) 17 September 2018
The photographs showed meals that looked like unidentifiable blobs. Given the title “texture-modified meals”, the dish is for those who have trouble swallowing their food, the ABC reported.
“My mother has dementia but still knows she is fed up with this meal and doesn’t like it,” one daughter told the broadcaster.
While some meals looked healthy and nutritious, this was a rare case.
Cherie Hugo, a dietitian who has looked after over 800 Australian aged care facilities, found that they were spending a mere $6.08 a day on food per resident.
That’s $2 less than prison inmates and drastically less than what an average adult would spend, at $17 a day.
Dr Hugo told the program that one of her biggest concerns was that the amount spent on aged care food had dropped by 31 cents per person per day in a year, while the figure spent on supplements had risen by 50 cents.
Health Services Union national secretary Gerard Hayes has called it a “disgrace.”
These findings come after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a royal commission into the aged care sector on Sunday following what he called an “alarming and disturbing” spike in elder abuse and poor standards.
*Names changed to protect identities.