Standard of food higher in care homes than hospitals

Over half of people with friends and relatives in care homes say food standards are better than in NHS hospitals.

The 'Care Home Catering' survey carried out by YouGov also revealed that many care home residents need help some or all of the time with eating (51 per cent) and nearly half need help some or all of the time with drinking (45 per cent).

Fifteen per cent of care home residents didn’t think their friend or relative was helped enough to eat and 16 per cent didn’t think their friend or relative was given sufficient assistance to remain properly hydrated.

James McCoy, research director at YouGov, said: “As the recent stories about meal standards in the NHS show, food and care go hand in hand. It is a mixed picture in the care home sector. Many view the standard of food their loved ones received in care homes to be higher than they got in hospitals. The quality of the meals is generally thought to be high but the area where the sector needs to improve is how the food is consumed.

“With so many residents needing help with meals, staff in homes need to make sure they are treated in a professional and sympathetic manner.”

In response to the survey, Davina Ludlow, director of carehome.co.uk, leading online guide to care homes, said: “Good nutritious meals are essential for people in care homes and this research about standards of food in care homes backs up our findings as three-quarters of the recommendations by residents and relatives on carehome.co.uk say the food in their care home is excellent.”

She added: “Ensuring that care home residents are helped to eat and drink is vital and it is important for staff to strike a balance between helping residents to eat and ensuring they keep their independence at mealtimes as much as possible. This can be done by encouraging residents to use spoons with big handles instead of a fork and offering finger foods as older people tend to lose their dexterity and have reduced mobility in their hands.”

The research from YouGov also found that over half of those asked (56 per cent) consider nutritious, high-quality food to be very important. Eighty-four per cent believe it is very important that all residents and patients have access to good quality food at all times.