Meals feedback varies

The new provider of Meals on Wheels to elderly people in Baw Baw Shire said customer feedback to their service has been positive while peak body Meals on Wheels Victoria says the service is in crisis state-wide and is falling apart.

Private provider Benetas took over delivery of the meals from the shire to people over 65 years of age and living at home last July.

Before then the meals were delivered, in most cases daily, to 150 people in Baw Baw with the support of volunteers co-ordinated by the shire and an annual financial contribution from council of about $50,000.

The council decided to withdraw from the program after changes made to Aged and Disability Services provision by the federal government more than two years earlier.

Baw Baw and Latrobe City joined in appointing Benetas to take over the athome aged services, including Meals on Wheels.

Benetas provides meals via Lite n Easy on a weekly basis and in a brief response to inquiries by The Gazette said it “worked closely with customers to support the transition and feedback has been positive”.

It stated it “proactively connected” with customers each week to conduct a wellbeing check but did not indicate how many people in the shire were now receiving meals.

In a report titled “Meals on Wheels in Victoria on the verge of collapse the peak state body calls for an urgent review, assessment and action to ensure the best outcomes for older Victorians with the majority of recipients of meals aged 80 to 90.

State manager Nelson Mathews said current policy and systems were generally providing frozen meals once a week.

“Having sufficient storage capacity and handling the meals was also beyond the capacity of many older Victorians”.

The watering down of this essential service doesn’t make sense, he said.

Mr Mathews added that weekly, and sometimes fortnightly, deliveries reduced monitoring of vulnerable elderly people, could increase isolation, loneliness and disconnection and be the only human contact for some customers.

Baw Baw Shire said that while it is no longer involved in the meals service and others provided under Aged and Disability Services is did assist elderly residents that were concerned about home-based support, either by providing them with information and in isolated cases contacting Benetas directly.

A range of other services can also be provided by Benetas including personal care, domestic assistance and home maintenance.