The Southern District Health Board has confirmed its Mosgiel Meals on Wheels service is unaffected by the controversial Compass Group outsourcing. Health reporter Eileen Goodwin visited the service.
Providing a Meals on Wheels service is more than just a plate of food on the Taieri.
There is relief in Mosgiel that its Meals on Wheels service is remaining in community control.
When the Otago Daily Times visited the service last week, volunteers, workers and managers did not know if they were caught up in the outsourcing to the Compass Group.
They hoped they were unaffected, but had heard nothing officially, even though the contract with the Southern District Health Board was soon up for renewal.
But a response soon after from the health board confirmed the agreement with Taieri Court for Meals on Wheels was not affected by the outsourcing.
''That's excellent news. Thank you,'' Presbyterian Support Otago marketing and communications co-ordinator Su Anderson replied, when emailed with the news.
Earlier, Mrs Anderson had accompanied the ODT to the PSO rest-home, which produces 100 meals a day, sometimes more, for residents and Meals on Wheels.
Residents have been asking service volunteers questions about the unpopular plan to truck meals from Auckland to Dunedin and Invercargill, and had needed reassurance.
''It's just been a bit of a difficult situation,'' nurse manager Mary McKay said.
The kitchen goes further than the stringent nutritional requirements for the meals and caters for individual tastes.
One older woman does not like seeds, something which is kept in mind if honey-roasted chicken is being served.
The kitchen recently had a new $16,000 oven installed.
Much of the food was steamed and nothing was fried, Mrs McKay said proudly.
The home has run a private Meals on Wheels service for 30 years, and the health board service for about 25 years.
Of up to 65 Meals on Wheels delivered daily, up to 45 are for health board recipients and the rest pay privately.
Food service manager Diane Todd, who is responsible for ensuring the kitchen complies with food safety regulations, said her guiding principle was that the meals were of a quality she would give her own parents.
The fare last Wednesday was more traditional: roast lamb, roast potato, peas, butter beans, carrots and broccoli, with caramel mousse and fruit to follow.
Many people eat a little of the generous portions and reheat the rest later.
Other stipulations - individually labelled on the meals - included finely cut meat, small portions, low fibre, low potassium and dairy-free.
Meals were plated up in small batches and volunteers chatted in reception while waiting for their consignments.
Volunteer Mike Franklin (80), delivering meals with his wife Judith, was scathing of the ''ridiculous'' plan to truck meals from Auckland to Dunedin.
It was all for a cost-saving that was effectively ''nothing'' in the long-term, he said.
Mrs Franklin (75), who volunteered the detail about the seed-free meals, said she could not imagine a corporate provider being so attuned to individual needs.
Recipients were always grateful.
The driver was sometimes the only person they saw all day, she said.
Mrs McKay said volunteers told the home if someone was unwell or not responding.
The rest-home either alerted the health board, or made an immediate visit.
Mrs McKay joined a delivery to Dave Radley (78), who had agreed to the ODT being there while he had his meal.
As we left, Mrs McKay reminded him about his regular hair cut from the visiting hairdresser at Taieri Court.
That was the kind of community-oriented service that suited the Taieri very well, Mrs McKay said.
