Meals on Wheels: A Vital Service

The motion

That the Parliament expresses its concern at the withdrawal of the meals on wheels service in the Scottish Borders, replacing it with a fortnightly delivery of frozen food; notes that carers, elderly people, consultants and other nursing staff at the Borders General Hospital Medical Services Directorate’s Department of Medicine for the Elderly have stated that stopping the service will result in a deterioration in elderly care in the Borders; deplores the fact that this practice has been adopted elsewhere in Scotland; notes that, although microwaves and freezers are provided where necessary, there are many frail and elderly who cannot cope with these gadgets, which may result in food being undercooked, running the risk of food poisoning; further notes that vital, often daily, human contact with the volunteers delivering the meals, sometimes the only human contact elderly people have in the day and a contact that at times has been life-saving, will be lost, and therefore calls on the Scottish Executive to require local authorities who have adopted this procedure to reinstate the meals on wheels service to those frail and elderly people who request it, giving them the dignity of choice which all Scottish citizens deserve.


No recorded vote on this motion. Most motions are never debated, and many that are debated are agreed without a division. Vote records are published from 2011.

SNP 11 LD 1 SSCUP 1

Party shown is each supporter’s party when the motion was published.

No contribution in the Official Report cites S2M-01759 by reference.