The Caterer Blog

I'm currently at the National Association of Care Caterers (NACC) annual conference in Birmingham.

Listening to the various speakers today covering everything from malnutrition amongst the elderly - which NACC chairman Sue Hawkins described as a national scandal that is costing the nation £7.3b a year and putting the stretched NHS under pressure through longer stays and treatment - to the failure of the system to support dementia suffers, it certainly puts things in perspective.

Hey, it's certainly not been all doom and gloom but you get the impression that with an ageing population the conference delegates - dedicated, passionate about what they do, underpaid and overworked - are facing a struggle at least as challenging as school meals reform.

Although there wasn't the fire of the LACA school meals conference I last attended at this very Hilton in July, there does appear to be movement at last with the Government seemingly engaged with the NACC and its peers to improve food standards for those in care.

We'll know more next month with the Government due to unveil its action plan during Meals on Wheels week. It might not sound like much but Hawkins told me it is if catering is to be seen as an integral part of the clinical process - as it undoubtedly is - because it's the first time all the various stakeholders involved in care for the elderly have worked in unison.

More in Caterer next week.