PAGE 16 | THE CARER DIGITAL | ISSUE 62
Cutting Costs and Improving Sustainability in the Care Sector
Philip Simpson, commercial director at ReFood, discusses the escalating issue of food waste in the care sector and explains why reduction, redistribution and recycling should be key considerations. Every year, 10 million tonnes of food is wasted across the UK – almost 40% of our national waste mountain. From by-products arising during the food manufacturing process and accidental damage during transport, to spoiled produce at supermarkets, plate scrapings from restaurants and binned leftovers in the home, the issue is prevalent right across the food supply chain. On a smaller scale, the UK’s care sector is also a key contributor. Indeed, recent statistics show that up to 40% of all food served in the average care home is often wasted. While this understandably comprises meal preparation waste (peelings, cores, gristle, shells, etc), the vast majority is perfectly edible plate scrapings and spoiled produce. Home managers suggest the key challenges are sub-standard inventory processes, varying portion sizes and needing to offer a wide variety of meals to satisfy resident preferences. This makes planning and budgeting a hugely difficult task, with food costs placing high up the balance
sheet. Alongside the financial implications of buying such huge volumes of food in the first place, it’s also important to question what happens to the resulting waste. Unfortunately, the unpleasant truth is that most is simply thrown away. But with landfill sites bursting at the seams, general waste disposal methods can’t be seen as a viable long-term solution. Alongside capacity issues, research shows that the greenhouse gases released by food left to rot in landfill are even more damaging to the environment than CO2. What’s more, with every tonne of waste bearing a landfill tax figure in excess of £96 per tonne, the costs of disposing of excess food are eye-wateringly expensive. So, with budgets tight and waste management costs increasing, food waste is fast becoming a critical issue for the care sector – both in terms of financial and environmental implications. Embracing innovative waste reduction tactics and looking towards alternative disposal methods must therefore be key areas of consideration. To help home managers reduce unnecessary waste, I’ve put together a few simple tips to help revitalise processes and rethink approaches:
1. CREATE AN INVENTORY To effectively plan meals, having an accurate inventory of the food entering and leaving your kitchen is paramount. Without reliable stock checking, you’ll find yourself over-ordering and generating unnecessary waste. The best place to start is by creating a database of your ingredients, detailing their use-by dates and creating a first in, first out system. This can be used to guide your meal planning activity and will help you know exactly what to buy and when to place your next order. What’s more, you won’t be left with either spoiled produce or more food than necessary.
2. THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT PORTION SIZES It’s important to remember that every gram of food scraped off residents’ plates costs you twice – firstly in terms of the money wasted to purchase, secondly in terms of the cost of disposal. Any way to reduce waste will therefore have a direct impact on the bottom line. One solution could be to offer two different portion sizes. Giving din-
ers the choice of a larger or smaller meal (depending on their appetite) will not only help you reduce waste, but can also make them feel more involved in their meals.
3. USE YOUR LEFTOVERS Don’t underestimate the value in leftover food. Alongside freezing what you don’t need, ask your kitchen staff to think about innovative ways to repurpose their leftovers, as well as using preparation waste (peelings, fats, etc) in stocks and soups. This will help your food go further and ensure that edible produce isn’t simply binned. Remember, being creative with your leftovers can create healthy, nutritious meals that residents will enjoy.
4. REDISTRIBUTE WHAT YOU CAN’T USE Granted, this won’t help you cut costs, but redistribution schemes are a great solution for edible produce that would otherwise be wasted. There are a whole host of charities that will share your surplus with those in need, rather than being unnecessarily wasted. Donating food to redistribution causes can get you out of a sticky situation, but is also a great way to give back to the local community. But while the tips above will help to curb overspending and reduce edible food waste, it’s important to consider the unavoidable fraction (bones, gristle, spoiled produce, etc) – which, while often falling under the radar, comprises some 30% of total food waste figures. Almost impossible to eliminate, care homes need a clever solution to manage this fraction – after all, sending it to landfill proves a huge financial drain. While not the silver bullet solution, food waste recycling provides an efficient alternative. A simple process, whereby food waste is degraded in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic digestion, or AD), food waste recycling captures the natural biogas and uses it to create renewable energy. The residual material, a liquid ‘digestate’, can be used as a biofertiliser to aid crop growth. Nothing is wasted. My advice to care homes is simple – reduce waste wherever possible, harness redistribution schemes where you can and recycle the unavoidable fraction. Landfill shouldn’t be a consideration; the environmental and financial implications simply don’t add up.
Vulnerable People At Risk Due To Growing Number Of Care Workers Self-Isolating The increasing number of care workers selfisolating is potentially more of a danger to vulnerable people in Wales than the Covid-19 virus, a social care leader has warned. According to Keri Llewellyn, the vice chair of Care Forum Wales, they were getting reports of care homes and domiciliary care companies where 40 per cent of the staff were at having to quarantine at home. As a result, a growing number of providers were struggling to give the required level of care – and the situation was only going to get worse with Covid cases skyrocketing. Social services departments were being affected by the same problem which meant that there were no staff reinforcements from there available. Although, thankfully, the number of people falling seriously ill and needing hospital treatment was falling, Care Forum Wales was concerned that some care home residents and people receiving care in their own homes could be at risk. They were by definition in fragile health and often needed a high level of care. The situation was already having a knock-on impact on the NHS because the reduced capacity of domiciliary care companies and care homes was making it increasingly difficult to discharge hospital patients back into the community. The Welsh Government has announced that from August 7 fully-vaccinated people will not need to selfisolate if they come in close contact with someone who has tested positive. Care Forum Wales say they are looking forward to discussing with the Welsh Government what this means for social care and any additional measures for staff working in health and care settings. Ms Llewellyn, who is also managing director of home care provider All-Care which works across South
Wales, said: “I’m up to 40 per cent of staff not working at any given time at the moment, which is huge. “Clearly, we’re in the third wave and the infection rate is rising but it’s not got the same feel because it’s not as bad and the hospitals are not as affected, but capacity has gone right through the floor. “We can’t carry on providing the same service to everyone in the community while we’ve got that many staff off. “They can’t get people out of hospital clearly, so there’s already a backlog to free up hospitals because they can’t move them on to having care because nobody has the capacity. “We’re facing a perfect storm. As well as the increasing number of people self-isolating. “Over the past year or so child care has often been provided by partners on furlough but with people back in work that’s not an option either.” The concern was echoed by Care Forum Wales chief executive Mary Wimbury who said: “Everybody is seeing increased pressure. “Even though at the height of the pandemic things were very much worse in terms of severe illness, because we are opening up many more people are putting themselves in situations where they’re potentially being exposed to Covid and they’re having to self-isolate. “As a result the number of people self-isolating is also on a steep upward curve. “Schools are now open and we know lots of infections are coming through them which means that parents have to self-isolate. “Even if the child is a contact and not actually infected it can still take some of the workforce out because of child care issues. “As part of the easing of restrictions, the Welsh Government have said that people who are fully vaccinated will not need to self-isolate if they are a close contact of someone who has tested positive from August 7 onwards. “The vast majority of social care staff are fully vaccinated as are the people receiving care. “We’ve got some positive data on vaccinated people reducing transmission but if you’re caring for vulnerable people the risk is still there, even though it’s reduced.
New Transparent Face Mask Shields Your Smile, Without Hiding It! Newly launched Smile Shield has a transparent panel to aid communication, whilst offering medical grade protection, and meeting all elements of the government’s Transparent Face Mask Specification. Smile Shield has also over 98% bacterial filtration efficiency, is breathable, splash proof and hypoallergenic. It is a British invention, created by two founders Jennifer and Lisa, who also own TAD medical, known for its range of medical supplies, already widely used by hospitals, educational facilities and the emergency Services. Jennifer Soboslay, Founder of Smile Shield comments: “Visual facial expression is a huge benefit to many industries, as communication is so important to us all, especially a smile, which can change the sentiment of the information being shared or be
encouraging without words. The Smile Shield allows lip reading, visible facial expressions, and a clearer understanding and connection between people to take place.” The Smile Shield™ can also be used as a surgical mask. The clear front panel makes the mouth visible, which is especially important for those caring for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, have a learning disability, or suffer with autism or dementia. Soboslay, adds: “We saw a gap in the market for a medical grade mask with a clear panel, that can be used by healthcare providers.” Hypoallergenic and latex free, the Smile Shield mask is comfortable to wear and offers over 98% Bacterial Filtration Efficiency. For more information about Smile Shield, please visit: www.smileshieldmask.com.