Care Homes: Coronavirus

(asked on 23rd March 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessments he has made of the adequacy of support provided for care homes to provide sufficient food to residents during the covid-19 pandemic.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 3rd June 2020

The United Kingdom’s food supply chain remains resilient and the Environment Secretary continues to meet regularly with representatives of the food industry to ensure people can get the food and groceries they need.

The Cabinet Office, working in partnership with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors, have launched Food2Care as a response to reports of care home owners’ concerns about food availability from supermarkets, and the increased risk of introducing Covid-19 into their residential premises if kitchen staff have to make regular shopping trips.

Foodservice wholesalers know the product and menu requirements care homes have, and they work every day with the manufacturers to meet the needs of residents. They can help design meals and menus, and they know what other similar businesses are buying. They have temperature-controlled delivery vehicles and online ordering platforms and experienced telephone sales teams.

Catering packs are larger than supermarket ones and come with nutritional and allergen information. Distributors can provide advice and Government guidance on food storage and preparation – everything care homes need to ensure their residents and teams are fed during these unprecedented times. More information can be found at the following link:

www.food2care.co.uk

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