Aged care meal dismay
Family disgusted at ‘stone cold’ offering for 80-year-old
THEY’RE PAYING A LOT OF MONEY TO BE LOOKED AFTER, AND THEY DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS. YVONNE MURFET
A “DISGUSTING” photo of dinner served at a Lindisfarne aged care home has created a social media storm of indignation.
Yvonne Murfet snapped the photo of her 80-year-old mother’s meagre dinner at the Fairway Rise aged care home, which is owned by the company Southern Cross Care.
Her mother relocated to Fairway Rise after Southern Cross Care bought the Mary’s Grange aged care home from Bupa and promptly shut it.
The meal was a scoop of yellowy mash and chopped up bits of sausage reportedly served “stone cold”, with nothing by way of vegetables.
After posting the picture to social media, Ms Murfet said she was contacted by hundreds of people who had their own aged care horror stories to tell. One of them also had a parent in Fairway Rise, and they sent in a photo of one of their recent dinners – three microwaved party pies with no sides.
“I’ve spent the weekend answering calls. I’ve been inundated with people wanting to share their stories,” Ms Murfet said.
“My mum has me, but a lot of these residents don’t have a voice or a family to speak up for them.”
Ms Murfet has written to the government as well as Southern Cross
Care which, she says, has promised to review the food being served at the aged care home.
However, Ms Murfet said the food was the tip of the iceberg, with understaffing the fundamental problem.
She said several staff members were “lovely”, but had confided in her mum that they were chronically short staffed and under-resourced.
“I will do my best to improve Fairway Rise because there’s some real issues
there. Their local management is lovely, but they’re not getting support from upper management,” she said.
“They’re paying a lot of money to be looked after, and they deserve better than this. I feel like I’ve become an aged care advocate overnight. I’m pleased to have spoken up.”
She said she was also advocating on behalf of Southern Cross Care’s Rivulet aged care home, which is currently under a sanction for not meeting government standards. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission said there was an “immediate and severe risk” to the safety, health or wellbeing of residents.
A spokesperson for SCC Tasmania said it provided “excellent and appropriate meals” for all residents at Fairway Rise and all its facilities.
“Showing one part of one meal is not an accurate depiction of the meals we serve. The main meal of the day is lunch, which includes two hot options, two cold options and two options for dessert. The evening meal is designed to be smaller and includes a soup entree, hot and cold option main courses and two dessert options. Both lunch and dinner are served with vegetables. Breakfast also has hot and cold options, and we provide sandwiches, savoury muffins and similar for morning and afternoon tea and supper. Fresh fruit and other snacks are provided 24/7.”
“We will investigate any complaint made by a resident or their family.
“SCC Tasmania takes the care of our residents very seriously.”