Q: What does your job involve?
A: I’m an FSA, which stands for food service assistant. My job involve serving all sorts of delicious food to our wonderful residents. I do breakfast, lunch and dinner as well. We also have a tea trolley, which I wheel round at 11:00 a.m. and at 03:00 p.m. The food itself is prepared in the kitchen downstairs, by our talented chefs, and just bought up for us to serve.
Q: Tell us about the food you serve?
A: Residents get a lot of choice at breakfast, including cereal, toast, tea and coffee. We also have special cooked breakfasts. For example, today we had an omelette as our special, with whatever fillings residents wanted. For lunch and dinner, we serve everything from hot pots and beef stroganoff to pastas, like lasagne and bolognaise, along with vegetables and potato. On Friday we have fish and chips. Of course, we do puddings as well, such as sticky toffee pudding, apple crumble and profiteroles. If I had to choose a favourite pudding, I think it would be the profiteroles.
The food is very good – it tastes delicious. We have a book for feedback and the residents always comment on the nice food and say ‘well done to the chef’. So, yes, residents definitely appreciate the food.
Q: Tell us more about the tea trolley?
A: We put tea and coffee, along with a selection of homemade cakes, brownies, cookies and other treats, on the trolley and go around the rooms and ask the residents what they’d like. It’s something that the residents really look forward to.
Q: What do you like about your job?
A: I have worked in catering since 2OO4 and I have worked at Cramond for three years. Cramond is the first care home I have worked in, and it is my favourite job so far. It’s a very satisfying job and my colleagues are very supportive. Between us, we have a good understanding, which makes everything much more pleasant.
I really enjoy making the food nice for residents and seeing them enjoy eating it. I like everything really, because the people are so nice. You just feel like you make a difference working here. The residents are really happy when you serve them their meals and, especially, when you go around with the tea trolley. When I’m on my rounds, it’s nice to have a chat with everyone and they enjoy talking with us as well. For example, I always stop and talk to my friend and resident Alex, who’s such a funny man. He’s always got a joke and a smile, which is really nice.
Q: Would you recommend Cramond Residence?
A: I would recommend Cramond to anybody who is looking for a good place to live and be looked after. Why is that? Because it offers five-star care. The staff really care about the residents. And, to be honest with you, it’s the first time I’ve seen that.