Almost 1 in 10 Australian aged care residents are still going hungry, new report finds

Aussie families reveal the “appalling” meals their loved ones are being served in aged care homes, despite Anthony Albanese’s promise to address the issue.

Almost one in 10 aged care residents are continuing to lose weight since the Labor government came into power.

More than 13,490 elderly residents suffered “significant unplanned” weight loss in the latest quarterly figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The proportion of those losing at least five per cent of their body weight between April and June was 9.4 per cent, compared with 10.9 per cent in the previous three month period. However, the sample size in the latest snapshot was smaller.

While in opposition Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged that aged care residents were “literally starving”, making addressing it one of his main election campaign issues.

Dietitians Australia CEO Robert Hunt said the Albanese Government was responsible for part of the last period when the data was collected.

Dietitians Australia CEO Robert Hunt.

He said that every week the government waited to take action on fixing the food crisis in aged care was “another week our loved ones are at risk of going hungry and winding up malnourished”.

“The latest data shows us meals are clearly continuing to be missed,” he said.

News Corp was sent an image of a meal from a South Australian aged care home this week, which showed a bowl of custard and something else the resident said was unidentifiable and which she refused to eat.

“My mother snapped this in my great grandma’s nursing home last night,” the woman said. “Horrible. She’s only just moved into care and is refusing to eat. She doesn’t need blended food. It’s appalling.”

The Royal Commission found up to half of residents were malnourished and was shown examples of the appalling quality of meals served to residents, including party pies and chicken nuggets.

Food in an aged care home in regional SA served this week. Picture: Supplied

Dietitians Australia has long been calling for malnutrition screening to be used instead of the unplanned weight loss quality indicator.

Mr Hunt said the weight loss figures only scratched the surface.

“Residents could be eating poor quality food and be drastically undernourished but won’t lose weight,” Mr Hunt said.

“The Albanese Government promised better food for residents and to make sure dollars are going to care.

“Dietitians Australia intends to hold the government to their promise.”

Meanwhile, the Residential Aged Care Quality Indicators report also found that one in five residents – 35,583 – were physically restrained during the April to June quarter.

Nearly 20 per cent – 32,115 people – were given antipsychotics, although only 17,339 of them had a diagnosis for psychosis.

Antipsychotics are sometimes used to medically restrain a resident.

Food being served in aged care facilities across Australia. Picture: Supplied

Food being served in aged care facilities across Australia. Picture: Supplied

Nearly one third of residents – 57,855 – suffered a fall during the reporting period, the proportion slightly up on the previous quarter. Almost 4000 of those suffered a major injury.

A spokesman from the Department of Health and Aged Care said the nutrition data indicated a decrease in significant unplanned weight loss from previous quarters.

“The Government is committed to ensuring older Australians receive nutritious, safe and appetising food,” the spokesman said.

He said the department was hard at work on the $5 million election commitment to the Maggie Beer Foundation to improve food quality and the $100 million for the Star Ratings System which will improve transparency for people making choices about aged care.

He said the Government will continue funding the extra $10 per resident, per day supplement, with providers now having to report how much it spends on fresh and processed food ingredients.

Originally published as Almost 1 in 10 Australian aged care residents are still going hungry, new report finds