Foodbank coming to help of people who are leaving hospital to no food
IMAGINE living in a world when, when released from a prolonged stay in hospital, your first thought isn’t about getting better, or even getting comfortable at home – it’s about how you’re going to afford to eat.
We read a lot about ‘bed blocking’ or ‘delayed discharges’ as they are technically called.
There have been endless debates in parliament and in the media about the problems caused by not having enough support for people when they leave hospital.
It’s a problem caused by various factors, including an aging population with multiple medical needs and an expectation that adult social care can handle the volume of demand for people of all ages, which it clearly can’t.
But the reality of what can go on for some of our most vulnerable friends, relatives and neighbours struck home to me when I read the RAFT Foodbank’s update over the weekend.
RAFT, very much Rossendale’s own foodbank, shared on social media details of how people get into contact with them, and that as each bank holiday weekend approaches, they get a flurry of new referrals from various public services.
They also get emails and calls from people they’ve helped before.
According to, these include: “Communications such as ‘Please I have just been discharged from hospital and not eaten for three days, I am desperate, please help’ arriving in volunteers’ inboxes at the same time.”
The update adds: “Why is it despite millions being spent on discharge planning and integrated care, increasingly referrals, not just self referrals, highlight discharge from hospital as a crisis point when some of the most vulnerable arrive home to no access to the basics such as food.”
It’s a situation which should shame us as a nation.
Foodbanks have been a hot political potato in recent days, and hopefully that’s a good thing.
I’m not trying to make a political point here.
I’m just horrified that in the 21st century, we find ourselves in a situation where people can leave hospital, worried about their health, but consumed with the fear of having nothing to eat.
If there is a positive side to this situation, it’s that RAFT continues to enjoy support from people across the area.
Dump bins at supermarkets are regularly filled by people wanting to do their bit, while volunteers dedicate time each week to ensure that the most vulnerable get the support they need.
Local businesses – and some national ones based here – offer support too, while local community groups, churches and schools all regularly raise funds or seek food to help RAFT.
It’s a coming together of the community we should be proud of, and we should be proud of the fact that among us live the people who created RAFT, and have been determined to make it a success.
Of course, success for society would be not needing a foodbank at all.
Whether that will ever be the case remains to be seen.
But RAFT’s update has reminded us that behind the headlines and policy debates about hospitals and social care are real people who are struggling.
Solutions are never easy to find, but RAFT quite clearly has shown that solutions need to be found to a situation which should worry us all.