Cooking with purpose: how Crosslet House is leading the way in care
West Dunbartonshire Council’s catering team are setting a bold pace for nutritious, locally driven care meals - here’s how they’re doing it.
As morning breaks across Crosslet House, the centre is relatively quiet. But in the kitchen, it is abounded with energy. Dedicated catering staff are busy prepping the meals of the day for their residents: chopping vegetables for fresh soups and sides, dividing ingredients for home baking after the morning food service, and carefully plating meals for those with complex care needs. Mealtimes are done different at this residency care home – and this change has become a highlight of the day, for residents and staff alike.
“The journey to this award has been about much more than a certificate," says Catering Manager Robert Patterson. "It’s about creating meals our residents look forward to. We aim to use fresh, seasonal ingredients in every dish where possible, all prepared with care."
The care home, alongside Queens Quay House in Clydebank, recently achieved the Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) Bronze award, making it one of the first public sector care homes in Scotland to reach this milestone. As part of the certification, care home caterers ensure that a minimum of 75 percent of dishes are freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients. Meals are also free from undesirable trans fats, sweeteners and additives. Award-holders must use free range eggs, higher welfare meat and ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources. Essentially, only good food goes on the plate for residents, and it is something Robert is passionate about.
One of the day residents at Crosslet House enjoys her scratch-cooked, freshly prepared lunch.
“The food served in care homes like Crosslet House should be the best we can provide – and that means made from scratch, freshly prepared and offering our residents something different,” Robert explains. “If it’s something we wouldn’t perhaps choose to eat, then why would it be suitable for our residents?
“We believe they deserve the best they can get and that’s what we’re aiming to achieve each day, and that’s with the Food for Life award.”
The challenge
Like many care homes, Crosslet House faced the challenge of providing meals that were both nutritious and appealing, while also meeting increasingly high sustainability and quality standards. Pre-packaged or highly processed meals posed an issue: limiting freshness, flavour, and nutritional value.
" The perception for food in care homes may be frozen and packet produce, with very little cooking involved, but that was years ago,” Robert explains. " Coming into this role, I wanted to make show that food served in care homes can be fresh, seasonal, and made from scratch. I wanted to use better produce, because it means the dishes we’re delivering look and taste better.
“What’s more, our residents deserve meals that are good for their health and enjoyable to eat."
The moulds used for the IDDSI meals. The aim is to ensure residents have their health needs met while dining with dignity.
Another consideration Robert and his team had to make were the varying complex health needs of the residents of Crosslet House. For those with dysphagia diets, IDDSI (International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative) meals are delivered, catered to each particular resident’s individual care need.
“Before, it may have been just processed foods used in the meals because it's just getting blended and moulded or piped with less care,” Robert explained. “But for us, we’re looking the IDDSI meals with an understanding the demand is going to be high, so what food is being used should be good quality. We use high, welfare meat and good quality seasonal vegetables in our dishes.”
He continues, saying, “We then plate them using pre-made moulds of the different items in the dish. This means the food is of the texture the resident needs, but it still looks like how a carrot should. We our priority is ensuring that no matter the dish or health need, our residents are always dining with dignity.”
The residents enjoy fresh, scratch-cooked home baking on the menu, like this raspberry tart, made the morning of our visit.
The solution
The transformation began in the kitchen, where the team set out to put fresh, seasonal ingredients at the heart of every meal. Working closely with local suppliers like McLays, the menus were redesigned to reflect what was in season, ensuring that residents received the very best of local produce. Soups are now scratch-cooked daily, sauces are made from unprocessed ingredients, and daily baking fills the home with the comforting aroma of freshly baked bread and desserts.
"Cooking from scratch allows us to control quality and nutrition, and it makes a huge difference to taste," Robert says. "The aroma of home-baked bread and cakes fills the home. It’s a small thing that has a big impact on resident wellbeing."
The team also focused on sourcing ethically, ensuring meals include free-range eggs, higher-welfare meat, and other sustainably produced ingredients. Every choice made in the kitchen is designed to meet FFLSH standards while also improving the health of residents. By increasing the proportion of unprocessed ingredients, reducing trans fats, and avoiding unnecessary additives, residents now enjoy meals that are more nutrient-rich, flavourful, and satisfying.
“Having the Food for Life Served Here award has been brilliant for showcasing the great work we do, from advertising posters around Crosslet House to speaking to families of residents and sharing information with them about the programme, so they know their loved ones are getting delicious food,” Robert says. “It’s been a great conversation starter about the importance of fresh, seasonal food for both the families, but the residents too.”
He continues, saying, “The journey of the award has also brought us, as a team, the opportunity to re-connect with food on a different level. It’s about respecting the ingredients and where our food comes from, which has helped us embed the process of freshly prepared, scratch-cooked dishes into our culture. It also means that any new member of staff coming in understands the high level our residents – and ourselves – expect from each mealtime.”
As local authorities grapple with cutting-costs to meet budget targets, Robert was determined to ensure that putting good food on the plate wouldn’t bring extra costs the team couldn’t manage long-term. They came up with an innovative way to manage costs: through combating food waste.
“With our model with the IDDSI meals and a focus on eating seasonally, we have been able to counter the extra costs of better-quality food whilst reducing food waste,” Robert explains.
“Any veg we prep that doesn’t get served isn’t going to be wasted. Instead, the veg will go into tomorrow’s freshly made soup or used in an IDDSI meal. Through eating seasonally, we’re able to reduce costs on expensive items and keep our menus simple, seasonal and still delicious.”
"Every meal is now an opportunity to support health, sustainability, and enjoyment," he adds.
The difference – and looking to the future
What sets Crosslet House apart from other care homes is the dedication to hands-on cooking, seasonal menus, and home baking, which is creating meals that are both healthier and more enjoyable. Residents now look forward to dishes such as Ayrshire Pork Roast or Red Tractor Roast Turkey with Scottish roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables, which provide familiar flavours while offering maximum nutritional value.
"We aim to make the plate as colourful as possible for our residents – that could be a stew or casserole with carrots, onions and turnip or lasagna with celery and carrots, for example. And it’s brought a real change to our residents since moving to scratch-cooked, seasonal menus," Robert points out. "They enjoy their meals more, eat better, and it even sparks conversation and social interaction at the dining table.”
The impact has been clear. Residents are eating more balanced diets, enjoying their meals, and benefiting from the improved nutritional content. The team’s work has also set a benchmark for other care homes, demonstrating that high-quality, sustainable food is achievable in a care setting.
"Achieving the FFLSH Bronze award shows what’s possible when a team is committed to quality, sustainability, and dignity in care," Patterson reflects. "It’s consistently a real team effort, and we’re proud of the difference it makes every day."
Recently, the team had their annual inspection from the Care Inspectorate and were delighted by the results: their score for Health and Wellbeing rose to the top score of 6 – highlighting the impact of their hard work. And they credit that improved score – the highest a care home can receive – with gaining the Food for Life award.
“By having the award, we were able to show how we’re meeting each Bronze award standard and in turn, how that is helping us meet our health and wellbeing goals. It’s great as it encourages you to showcase the work you and the team is doing in the best light,” Robert explains. “When questionnaires are sent to the relevant parties asking about the service, you typically only receive three or four back. This year, we had 17 returned, which is fantastic.
“I really believe having the award, alongside our work in IDDSI meals, contributed to our high score of a level 6,” he concludes.
Now, as a sector leading care home, Crosslet House shows that achieving the Food for Life award is about far more than meeting standards. It’s about embedding better food into the heart of care, supporting both resident wellbeing and local food producers, and demonstrating that care home catering can be fresh, seasonal, scratch-cooked, and full of flavour.
"Our story shows that care homes don’t have to compromise on quality or their aims for sustainability," Robert says. "Fresh, seasonal, scratch-cooked meals are achievable and can transform the daily lives of residents. It takes grit and it takes staff being inventive, thinking outside the box to make sure they’re meeting the care needs of their residents from key workers, dieticians to the team in the kitchen.
He continues, concluding, “I would encourage other care home facilities to think about how the award could help them. If they’re up for the challenge, the hard work can pay back in dividends in benefits. We’re the proof that it can happen as a newly awarded sector leading care home.”