A Sandwich Too Many?
Early in March the public were asked to support
an NHS Change Day and through the media people stated what they would do to
improve health care. There are things
that the public can do and that can help to reduce the number of appointments
that are wasted through non-attendance at hospitals, GP surgeries and other
health-related services. My thoughts
also went to another area where waste is evident.
There are, for instance,
sometimes trays of sandwiches, platters of fruit and Danish pastries all
temptingly displayed. How many health and social care events have you
attended in the last year where you have been offered lunches for which you
have not paid and which have been paid for from ever decreasing budgets?
At national and local level, in both statutory health and social care settings
and in the voluntary sectors, we have come to expect refreshment, not just tea,
coffee, juice, water and biscuits but lunch, too. It has become a way of life that we take for
granted.
Refreshments at events and
meetings are seldom, if ever, are paid for by delegates and we seldom concern
ourselves with who pays for this food and what happens to all that is left
over. Occasionally people may take left-over sandwiches for a long
journey homeward. More often we leave the food for the events or
meeting organisers to clear away, and we see it tipped into large black plastic
bin liners, producing more environmental waste.
And yet, elsewhere, people are hungry and
thirsty. The number of food banks
opening up increases week on week. The number of lonely older people increases week
on week. Health and safety regulations
forbid the passing of food on to people who are hungry, thirsty and lonely in
many instances and it cannot be sold and the income used to provide much needed
services.
We have become a wasteful world; most of us know
that and feel there is little we can do about it. What a mindless and
self-centred state we have reached in terms of our expectations. Many
people have grown up in recent years with an expectation they will be fed when
in attendance at meetings. Refreshments
come from these cash poor statutory and voluntary sector budgets and seldom, if
ever, is this waste identified.
Food brings with it a feel-good factor, a scarce
'freebie' in health and social care organisations that can rarely afford to
reward staff but free hospitality comes with a price tag, seldom recorded. If that money were calculated, it could provide services currently deemed too
costly. For example, there could
be more local training for volunteers to visit lonely older people, money would
be available to support more social activity for people in residential settings
who are bored.
This is just one area of waste within our health
and social care budgets and one reason why it often goes unacknowledged is
because these organisations think of finance in terms of thousands or millions
of pounds rather than how small savings made can make a huge difference. Individual pounds add up, not just in accounts
under the heading of ‘hospitality’ but around people's waistlines.
Ironically, as this blog was about to be
posted, there was a health and social care event where the lunch-time
sandwiches ran out!
Ann Macfarlane OBE
March 2014
