When a 90 year old woman asked to be served fish and chips by a waiter wearing a thong, the care home was happy to oblige.After all, she had requested it as part of its 'Make a Wish' scheme which sees staff trying to make guests' dreams come true.So an employee, wearing a see-through plastic apron over the skimpy black undergarment, duly fulfilled her unusual demand, serving the little old lady her favourite dish in the dining room.But while she enjoyed her cheeky treat, not everyone saw the funny side of the scantily clad waiter.In fact, one saw rather more than they found palatable - namely his bare behind and 'endowment' - and complained to the management that it was unprofessional and degrading.Today bosses at the home apologised and admitted staff may have 'over-stepped the mark'.Details of the incident at Woodland Houses Residential Cornwall Care Home in St Austell were leaked in a fax sent by a whistleblower to senior management at charity Cornwall Care, which runs the home and 17 others in the county.The anonymous source, understood to be a worker at the home, claimed: 'A volunteer was asked to purchase the garment. He came back with a black lady's thong.'On the night, other clients in the dining room were told of the event and told that if they didn't like it they could turn their head.'The thong that was worn had a see-through plastic apron over the front.'This is not providing professional services or standards. It does however, degrade Cornwall Care.'It also tells us the manager is abusing her position and needs to be demoted or resign. This behaviour is not acceptable. Will we be asked to wear a bikini next week at work to meet with a male client's wish, we ask?'According to the source, managers first asked one member of staff to act as the waiter but he refused and a second employee stepped forward and stripped off to serve the fish and chips on Monday.The care home has 36 voluntary elderly residents, many of whom have mental disorders, in 30 single rooms and three shared rooms.It provides short stay care, long stay care, and day care and facilities include a garden and a bar and cafe.Tracie North, director of operations and quality for Cornwall Care, said: 'The care of our clients is our number one priority and fundamental to this is giving them choices and respecting their wishes as adults.'Cornwall Care runs a Make a Wish initiative and while requests are typically for a day trip out or even a pasty and a pint, one of our residents recently asked if she could have a fish and chips supper served by a man wearing a thong.'To make this lady's slightly unusual wish come true it's possible our staff overstepped the mark and, while the wish was carried out in a light hearted way, we are sorry if anyone was offended.'The lady herself, her family and the member of staff who acted as her waiter believe that while it may have been a bit risque the wish was carried out with the utmost respect for all those involved and taken in the good humoured way it was intended by residents and staff present at the time.'We'll continue to encourage staff to be innovative in the way we run our care homes but we will be speaking with all our managers to ensure they know where to draw the line in future.' Cornwall Care employs around 1,100 members of staff and provides care to over 1,500 people, including over 500 at several day centres.On its website, it says: 'Everything we do at Cornwall Care has one aim - to encourage and enable older people, whatever their abilities, to lead as full and satisfying a life as possible.'
