Cornwallis Care Services has been providing high quality care for over 25 years and has grown to become one of the leading providers of care in Cornwall by putting quality first in everything it does.
What began in 1989 with one care home, has now grown to become a major force with 10 residential and nursing homes, caring for over 350 people. Its homes stretch right across Cornwall, from St Ives to Looe.
Cornwallis knows that mealtimes are a vital part of its residents’ daily lives. However, it found that delivering consistency of food provision across all 10 homes was a real challenge. It was also difficult to ensure residents were consuming the right balance of foods and nutrients and the team found it extremely challenging to manage and provide correctly prepared IDDSI meals that were appetising for residents to eat across a range of individual nutritional pathways.
Cornwallis chose to partner with leading meals provider apetito to ensure it was delivering high-quality, consistent meals across the entire group of homes says Nicola Hemsley, Operations Director of Cornwallis Care Services.
Improving Meals for Residents
Cornwallis Care Services’ mission is to continuously improve the provisions it provides for residents and to form meaningful partnerships with organisations to support the care it gives, Nicola explained:
“apetito’s values were pivotal in the decision to bring the company on board. Mealtimes are such a crucial part of each day in a care home and ensuring that the dining environment is a social event so residents truly want to come out of their rooms and socialise, is really important to us.
“With apetito, not only have we been able to ensure that there is consistency across all our homes when it comes to mealtimes but we’re able to work with experts in the field to ensure we’re serving food that has the right levels of nutrients and vitamins. We are passionate about serving food that delivers enjoyment at mealtimes as well as the right nutrition for each resident.
“Knowing that apetito’s dishes are developed by its in-house award-winning Chefs, Nutritionists, and Dietitians to not only look and taste fantastic but meet the dietary and nutritional needs, gives us and our residents’ families real peace of mind.
“Take texture-modified meals, before partnering with apetito, it was time-consuming to produce meals that were a safe texture, and they never looked particularly appetising for residents. Now, we can provide IDDSI meals which are safe and visually appealing. importantly, using texture modified specially moulded meals means that our residents can dine in dignity, something which is enormously important to them and their families.
Saving Money and Navigating Labour Shortages
When considering commercial issues, by having apetito in place, Cornwallis has not only been able to reduce costs (without any reduction of quality) but has felt less impacted by sector labour shortages.
“Invariably moving to apetito has saved us some money. For me personally, the main benefits as Operations Director have been the ability to monitor the financial side of it and the waste. It also makes stock management, planning and ordering food easy.
“Right now, food costs are extremely high, cost of labour is still increasing and we only have a finite amount of money.
“Because apetito’s service doesn’t require trained chefs in the kitchen, not only have we been able to reduce our labour costs, but because trained chefs are in very short supply, we’ve also been able to recruit more quickly through changing the job spec.
“Should the catering team not be in the home, which invariably happens if they’re off sick or on annual leave somebody else in the home can step up and manage the kitchen very easily. Not only is there financial advantage but it has given us peace of mind.”
Support From Day One
Cornwallis brought apetito into its 10 care homes and immediately saw a difference in the quality and consistency of its meals’ services. Nicola says:
“The roll out process that apetito provided was brilliant and went at a pace that was suitable for our care homes to manage. Since the roll out, the support that we’ve received from the team at apetito has been outstanding. They’re always on hand.
“We can just give them a call and they’ll be straight into the homes to support our catering teams. They’ve provided additional training and support us to ensure that we’re all working together to provide the best meals and care possible for the residents.
“apetito is a wonderful partner for us. Working with the team means we’re able to ensure our residents, no matter their dietary requirements, receive high-quality, nutritious meals every single day.”