Best and worst food in NSW aged care homes revealed

Every aged care home in the state has been rated on its food by residents. See the food score for your aged care home.

Julie Cross and Annabel Fleming

4 min read

March 18, 2024 - 10:33AM

News Corp Australia Network

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The providers of an aged care home rated the lowest in the state by residents for its food have hit out claiming it is “not an accurate reflection of the quality of food served in the home”.

Every aged care home in the country was given a food score after up to 20 per cent, or more than 37,000 aged care residents across Australia, were asked the question, ‘Do you like the food here?’ as part of an annual national survey undertaken by an independent team on behalf of the federal government.

The answers were collected last year, but only published in full last week.

Catholic Healthcare The Sister Anne Court Aged Care received the lowest rating by residents in NSW. There, one in five surveyed never liked the food, while more than half said they only liked it sometimes.

Catholic Healthcare The Sister Anne Court Aged Care.

At Calvary St Martin de Porres Retirement Community in Newcastle, which was fourth lowest rated in the state, a quarter of residents surveyed said they never liked the food.

In contrast nine out of 10 residents at the state’s highest rated home, William Beech Gardens – Bushmaster, Condobolin, said they always liked the food.

The residents’ experience survey results are important because they carry a 33 per cent weighting towards the overall Star Ratings score for each home.

A Catholic Healthcare spokeswoman said 14 out of 64 residents at The Sister Anne Court Aged Care took part in the survey and that there was positive feedback about food quality in internal surveys.

“With only 14 residents participating in the Resident Experience Survey conducted in August 2023, we feel this is not an accurate reflection of the quality of food served in the home,” the spokeswoman said.

Some of the worst food served in aged care homes in Australia.

A spokeswoman for Calvary said 10 per cent of residents took part in the national survey on September 21. She said an internal survey in December 2023, all residents surveyed responded “always” or “mostly” to liking the food.

“At Calvary St Martin de Porre’s, all meals are cooked fresh on site by a qualified chef and seasonal menus are endorsed by a robust resident food focus group, which meets monthly,” the spokeswoman said.

Dietitian Dr Cherie Hugo from the Lantern Alliance goes into aged care homes to help improve the food experience.

She said sometimes it’s not about how much you spend, or how fancy it looks, but it’s about serving food people want or are familiar with and making the dining experience enjoyable. Having the TV on loud, or people being given their medication during their meal, can really ruin the moment.

In one facility she worked with, changes saw half of residents with long term malnutrition, reversed.

“Food is the foundation of most of the woes in aged care,” Dr Hugo said.

“We want more food in the bellies and less in the bin.”

Dietitian Dr Cherie Hugo from the Lantern Alliance goes into aged care homes to help improve the food experience.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission received around 750 food complaints via a hotline, its website or email, between late July and March 1, and in most cases providers addressed the identified problem without further action needed.

It’s not just in NSW where some homes need to improve the food experience.

A 68-year-old, in an aged care facility in Adelaide, said he spends $100 a week on Uber Eats because most of the food he is served is either processed or tinned.

“Vegetables have been usually boiled to the max and are tasteless and bland,” he said. “Any form of fruit salad is from a tin, never any kind of quality fresh fruit.”

He said the menu reads well, but it rarely matched the food delivered.

AND ONE OF THE BEST

Food is the hottest topic of conversation at this aged care home with “what’s on the menu” the most popular item on the agenda at the monthly residents’ consultation meeting.

“We know if we can get the food right, then we are going to get everything else right,” Katerina Kouris, manager of The Greek Community Home For The Aged said.

“We don’t have weight loss here, unless someone is unwell. People actually come in and gain weight.”

Stuffed capsicum and tomato.

The yummy food at the Greek Community Home For The Aged in Earlwood. Chef Panayiotis Giannakopoulos with resident Adele Koutsoukos (right). Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Residents enjoy their lunch at the Greek Community Home For The Aged in Earlwood. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

She said the home caters for their residents’ tastes - and they want Greek food.

Chef Panayaiotis Giannakopoulos serves up dishes such as fish and horta vrasta and pork with lettuce and white egg lemon sauce - favourites with the centre’s 48 Greek residents.

Ms Kouris said the dining room is light and airy with a pretty outlook and a beautiful picture of Greece on the wall.

“It’s all very Greek and the aroma of the food in the dining room is always delicious,” she said.

The Sydney home was the 21st highest rated facility in the country. Seven out of 10 residents said they “always” liked the food, while the rest liked it “most of the time”.