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Elderly care homes are spending just £2.44 feeding each resident per day and serving up “slop”, a shock study has found.

It means some families are spending their life savings to send frail relatives to old folk’s homes where they are served a diet of cheap convenience food.

Research by Sheffield Hallam University reveals homes with mainly council-funded residents spend on average only £2.44 on food and drink for a whole day.

The “disgraceful” neglect of nutrition for those most in need of it is revealed in a snapshot of catering at the nation’s care homes.

Gary FitzGerald, chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse, said: “It’s very clear that the issue of low-quality food in care homes is a widespread problem and we believe it should be seen as a warning sign for more serious abuse and neglect.

(Image: Getty Images)

“If the management of a care home can’t be bothered to feed their residents properly, where else are they prepared to cut corners?”

For breakfast, cereals, porridge and yoghurt were common while dinner and lunch often consisted of meals such as sausage and mash or fish and chips.

The care home with the lowest food and drink funding was just £2.15 per resident each day - a similar amount to that spent feeding prison inmates.

Norman Dinsdale, senior hospitality management lecturer, found that some residents are being served little more than “gruel”.

He told the Mirror: “In some cases that is definitely happening. At the lower end the quality is absolutely shocking. It was just slop on a plate.

“For people living with dementia, nourishing food and drink is an essential requirement. This is not enough to adequately feed and hydrate a frail dementia patient whose only joy in the day is sitting down for something to eat.

“Without a doubt I am convinced that this is prevalent throughout the country and something needs to be done.”

The findings come from detailed interviews with caterers and managers at nine privately run residential care homes.

(Image: Getty)

The majority of homes are now run by private firms with the average cost of a stay around £30,000 a year. Care firms are paid less per person by local authorities so homes with fewer “self payers” tend to have less resources.

Mr Dinsdale, who spent 40 years working in the hospitality industry before becoming a university lecturer, said: “I found at the lower end there was limited choice, or no choice at all.

“For breakfast it might be Weetabix. There was a high use of convenience foods such as packet soups rather than fresh. For dessert there was Angel Delight-type stuff, jelly or cakes.

“There was hardly enough staff on and they were really under pressure because councils are paying them peanuts.

“I’m sure there are some private care homes that are excellent but there will be just as many that are really struggling.

“I’m not a political person but it’s about time that the money for this was delivered. Something needs to be done nationally.”

The Mirror has launched the Care for All campaign to tackle the crisis after funding to local councils was choked off by the Tories.

(Image: Getty Images)

State funding for social care has fallen by 27% since 2010 and a broken part-privatised market system has seen standards of care plummet.

Most care homes are now run by private firms and accept both residents funding their stay from their life savings as well as those whose place is being funded by the local authority.

George McNamara, director at Independent Age, said: “It’s disgraceful that care homes think they can spend so little on food per day.

“Their average daily spend is only slightly less than the average spend per meal per pupil at schools. It’s deeply concerning that care homes see nutrition as such a low priority for the health and wellbeing of their residents.

“All care homes should ensure their residents are provided with good quality, nutritious meals, and this should be part of Care Quality Commission inspections.”

Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s shadow care minister, said: “It is upsetting and shameful in equal measure that care homes are being allowed to serve such low-quality food to vulnerable residents, many of whom are paying a great deal for their care.

“It’s another symptom of the rip-off care system that’s developed under the Tories, because of their relentless pursuit of austerity, which has seen demand for care soar, public funding fall and which has let exploitative care home providers behave like this.”

Under England’s care system, those in residential care face losing all savings and assets - including the value of their house - down to their last £14,000.

The research by Sheffield Business School saw chefs and managers at the nine care homes outline their daily food cost budgets.

Three were high end homes for mainly self-funders and had higher quality food, even serving residents’ a glass of wine with some meals. Overall their daily cost per resident ranged from £2.15 to £5.50.

Once these three higher end homes were discounted the daily food cost per resident was £2.44. Prisons spend around £2 a day on food for inmates.

Mr Dinsdale added: “I was devastated to see several members of my family and extended circle of friends living and dying with dementia, some in care homes.

“Selfishly I feared that this might happen to me and the thought of an existence living on what I consider to be sub-standard food was not something I wished to contemplate.”

Action on Elder Abuse is campaigning for serious abuse in care homes to made a specific offence in law.

Chief executive Gary FitzGerald added: “The blame for this scandal doesn’t just lie with individual care homes.

(Image: Kristian Buus)

“The Goverment must also take its share of responsibility, because the savage cuts to local authority budgets in recent years end up having an impact on real people’s health and quality of life - potentially putting them in danger.”

Reform of the social care system has been delayed for years with the Government now promising a Green Paper some time in 2019.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Good food is vital for health and wellbeing and we expect care homes to provide appealing and nutritious meals for their vulnerable older residents.

“Whilst most do so already, we have introduced tough inspections to make sure services meet quality and safety standards and given the Care Quality Commission powers to crack down on poor practice.

“We are determined to make adult social care sustainable for the future and will publish our proposals in a Green Paper shortly.”

Reality of residential dinners

A nursing home which boasted of restaurant-style dining was criticised for serving up a slice of ham with a handful of frozen chips.

Elisha Thompson took to Facebook to shame Claremont Parkway care home in Kettering, Northamptonshire over food she claims it served to her 79-year-old grandmother.

Claremont’s brochure boasted “delicious appetising menus, as good to eat as they are good for you” and “restaurant-style meals combining variety with a balanced diet”.

Elisha said: “She asked for ham, egg and chips and the first plate they brought was ham, chips and beans.

“She told them she couldn’t have beans as they upset her stomach. They eventually took the plate away and brought what you can see in the photo - it must be a single slice of ham and a few chips.

They were obviously frozen chips and they’d been re-heated. There was no potato in them - they were just shells.

“We asked where the egg was and were told they’d run out - yet there’s a Tesco just over the road.

“I told staff the meal was disgusting, there was no way my mum was going to eat, so they took the plate away and returned again - this time with just a pile of chips.

“I asked where the ham had gone and was told ‘it’s just sandwich ham, she won’t want that anyway’.”

After the incident last September Claremont Parkway insisted residents were happy with the standard of food and said the lack of egg was a “misunderstanding”.

A spokesman said: “We survey these residents when they are discharged as part of our governance obligations and share the outcomes with contract monitors and other authorities.”

*Do you have a story about the quality of care home food? Email mirrornews@mirror.co.uk with your experience and any pictures.