Homes and hospitals could run out of food in weeks

EXPERTS f ear t hat f ood supplies to some care homes and hospitals could fail within weeks.

Many care homes rely on wholesalers to deliver ingredients and drinks, but the food industry says that without urgent financial support from the Government, many companies could go under.

Coral Rose, managing director of County Range Group, which supplies more than 100,000 people at 5,000 care homes as well as hospitals, police and fire stations, warned supply chains were just weeks away from collapsing. Wholesalers rely on restaurants and pubs for around 70 per cent of their business but with these now closed, food and drink suppliers have a funding gap of six to eight weeks of unpaid debts and may not survive without that income.

Care home bosses are also concerned about a shortage of personal protection equipment (PPE), with hospitals getting priority for masks, goggles and aprons.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents independent care providers, said: ‘We need proper equipment. We need proper sanitisers so we can enable people to nurse Covid-19 patients safely away from other residents.’

Paula Hoggarth, operations director of care services firm Radis, said her staff had been forced to approach tattoo parlours, garages and hairdressers for protective kit.

Edna Petzen, of the National Care Forum, said a lack of testing meant care workers were ‘pretty much working in the dark’.

Last week, it emerged that three-quarters of the residents at a care home in Hove, East Sussex, had become infected with coronavirus. Pleas for protective equipment went unanswered and several staff fell ill.

Local Labour MP Peter Kyle said: ‘This has highlighted the urgent need for more testing and quicker testing.’

There are also calls for the right equipment to be provided to those treating Covid-19 patients recovering from the virus after they are discharged from hospitals into care homes. Sir David Beehan, chairman of care home provider HC-One, said: ‘ Staff have the skills to deal with this but it is essential they have the right levels of equipment.’