Raunds care home owner struggling to buy enough food for elderly residents

The owner of a Raunds care home has said he is struggling to get enough food to feed residents because of the buying restrictions in supermarkets.

Nish Patel, who owns Kingswood Home in Hollington Road, Raunds, said he has to shop for its 20 residents himself because the home can no longer get an online delivery from Asda, the supermarket he normally uses.

With no deliveries available, Nish has been shopping for the home himself but has been limited in shops on how many items he can purchase and this is leaving the home short on supplies.

Nish said: "What’s happened is we have to run around different supermarkets because going into the store, you’re limited to just three as well.

"I can only get three milks, which won't last me half the day, we need 30 to 40 a week.

"I have to go to multiple stores or go in and go in again for another three.

"For this week’s shop, I must have gone into 20 different places. I have gone to local mini marts too because when I go to Asda, the queue is so big and long I haven't got time to wait."

Nish has been doing the shops himself to minimise the risk of his staff getting ill, he said: "I am trying to not let my staff go out to purchase bits, so it's putting a lot more pressure on myself.

"I have already had two staff off with symptoms of coronavirus. We don’t know if they had it or not but we obviously had to tell them to isolate.

"Having that happen, I don’t want to lose any staff for two weeks. The impact of having two staff off for two weeks has been immense for us."

Nish has tried to contact Asda but said: "I have tried to ring everybody, emailed. I cannot get through to anyone.

"We are looking after the most vulnerable people. It says it is delivering to a care home."

Nish has spoken to the manager of Corby's Asda, who has said Nish can buy what he needs for the home in person, but this is still not ideal for the care home.

Nish said: "The manager in Corby has done what he can.

"Personally, I live in London. It's putting a lot of pressure on me and costing me a lot of money.

"I'm really trying to not let my staff go out to purchase bits."

A spokesman for Asda said: "We're absolutely committed to supporting the effort to feed the nation wherever we can.

"In addition to working around the clock to keep our shelves stocked and deliveries moving, we have also been working with Government and some of our fellow supermarkets to ensure those people who have been identified as highly vulnerable get what they need and are protected from Covid-19

"We have a dedicated team who will work with government on the available data to support as many extremely vulnerable people as we can - whilst also continuing to ensure our stores are stocked and our deliveries are moving for millions of customers nationwide.

"We're doing all we can - and would continue to urge customers who are able to visit shops to think of how they can support others in their community and if they can shop for them - allowing us to maximise our online capacity for those who need it most."