Council criticised for 25% hike on pensioners’ meals 29/10/14
A Western Isles carers’ body has slammed the Comhairle for imposing high charges for delivering frozen meals to housebound pensioners.
Delivery costs make up nearly a quarter of the outlay for a daily meal being bought by elderly people.
From next month, changes are being introduced to replace the present system of getting each individual home carer to freshly cook a hot meal for their clients every day.
Individual preparation of food for around 360 pensioners who are assessed for free personal care is very costly and time consuming according to the council.
Under new changes, frozen ready-
The £15.55 fortnightly delivery cost works out at £1.11 a day -
The Western Isles Carers, Users and Supporters Network (WICUSN) says the council should look again at its delivery prices.
Jinty Morrison of WICUSN said Maclean’s produced good quality meals at a core value-
But the high delivery price added on by the council may deter many people from using the food service or going for a cheaper option, she fears.
Jinty Morrison pointed out the national personal care rules required the council
to provide food preparation and cooking for free -
The money the council will save on the present food preparation costs should be used to offset the labour outlay of cooking the frozen food, thus making it more affordable for pensioners, she says.
Mrs Morrison highlighted: “The council’s delivery adds another quarter of the price onto the meal,” which will be a significant issue for many people.
She said the cost of the cooking the meals at the factory should be the council’s food preparation contribution and not charged to pensioners.
A Comhairle spokesperson said the council selected two providers, Maclean’s and Apetito, to provide extra menu choices.
He said the delivery charges were the “commercial going rate” and a tender provided competitive rates which were even cheaper than some similar services on the mainland.
They are “in-
The spokesperson said: “The suggestion that the Comhairle should subsidise the service by paying for the delivery of the meals would result in the Comhairle going beyond its statutory obligations and would be unfair on those who make alternative arrangements.
“For example, it would be unreasonable to expect that the Comhairle would also fund supermarket deliveries, or reimburse families delivering meals or shopping to households.”
The council correctly points out that shopping is not a free personal care service as defined by national eligibility rules.
The spokesman said: “If shopping is an assessed need, arrangements for this service will be made and charged for as appropriate.
He added: “The Comhairle is committed to providing a community meals service in line with best practice to meet the nutritional and dietary needs of service users.
“The Western Isles is not unique in terms of providing a community meals service as there are a range of examples operating nationally.
“However the service does provide service users with the option to purchase a range of nutritious meals from local and national suppliers.”