HEALTHCARE TODAY: News and views from the Institute of Hospitality in Healthcare Ltd

Looking back on a challenging year … and ahead to a brighter future

Looking back on a year beset by challenges, I’m sure we are all pleased to have come through the worst of the lockdowns and are looking forward to the future with a cautious optimism.

The physical distancing requirements and restrictions on gatherings during most of this year saw our annual IHHC Conference postponed to 2021 and in fact necessitated cancellation of all our planned face to face events. However we were determined to fulfil our mission of bringing people in hospitality and other support services within healthcare together and to this end we were able to conduct many activities online.

That in itself posed some challenges, but I believe the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. People working in our industry often struggle to find the time to attend face to face events, given they may have to take a morning or an entire day off work, tackle traffic, find parking and so on, all to participate in an educational session that might last one or two hours. But by conducting these online, they’re able to stay at their workdesk, have their emails running in the background and participate in either the full session or in whichever component takes their interest.

We have strived to make all our online webinars and educational sessions topical and relevant – some have been Covid related, others have focused on hygiene and cleaning, business continuity plans and as I write we’re about to conduct a session on allergen management. In point of fact experts from Health Jurisdictions and the IHHC have supported the National Allergy Strategy to develop Allergy training for Healthcare staff and in the future training will be developed for hospitality staff. Click the link below to find out more about this.

We have also taken the opportunity of the downtime imposed by lockdowns to lay the groundwork for some organisational changes which will help to make the IHHC more open and accessible and hopefully more appealing for new members to come on board. We’re currently in the planning stages for next year’s calendar of events, but we will certainly be continuing to utilise online activities, plus we plan to have each state hold one or two face to face events – so as to ensure members won’t feel isolated and are still able to come together and interact. 

We hope to see as many of you as possible at our IHHC Conference next year, which will be held at the Crown Casino in Perth from 18-20 October.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank our valued Supporters for their continued loyalty during these trying times. Now more than ever, we appreciate your ongoing commitment and dedication. We would also encourage any foodservice suppliers who are interested in tapping into the healthcare market – whether acute care or general health/aged care – to get in touch with us, as we are always happy to extend the opportunity for you to come on board, partner with us and access a communication channel to our membership base.

Our annual conference includes a trade show component which provides a great opportunity to showcase your products or equipment to our delegates. If you are interested in participating in the trade show, please email admin@ihhc.org.au for more information.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season and like all of us, I look forward to a brighter and safer 2021!

TROY LITZOW
National Vice President - IHHC