Residents and aged care workers are reporting abysmal food standards inside of residential aged care homes as advocates urge the government to scrap delays for introducing a right-based Aged Care Act. or signup to continue reading As legendary chef Maggie Beer prepares to staff and older people describe being served chicken nuggets and re-heated meals that are shipped in by trucks and served to elderly residents. Rosemary Seam said the quality of food she eats has "deteriorated" since she first moved into a NSW-based aged care facility over four years ago.
"It's still adequate to keep my body and soul together, but it's nothing to look forward too," Ms Seam said. One aged care worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal from their employer, said it was "hard to believe" providers were spending a dedicated portion of their taxpayer-funded subsidies on meals. "You could imagine yourself and you're sitting at your table waiting for your main meal, and then what gets put in front of you is a mixture of sloppy mash potato, some casserole which doesn't look like it's got any substance to it - it's awful," they said.
"There really doesn't seem to be that much improvement in regards to quality. "I believe for a lot of providers [the subsidy] was just a money grab and it's become a part of the profit margin rather than going where it was meant to." Aged care providers spend on average $14 on food for each resident per day, according to the most recent quart.
