HEALTHCARE TODAY: News and views from the Institute of Hospitality in Healthcare Ltd
Looking back on a challenging year … and ahead to the future
The past 12 months have been challenging for many industry sectors but hospitality and healthcare were particularly hard hit. As the national industry association representing hospitality and other support workers in healthcare, the IHHC has strived to ensure we were able to continue serving the interests of our members and supporters while also reaching out to keep the lines of communication open. Our National Magazine has been expanded to include more topical and feature articles of interest to members and reformatted in a more contemporary presentation, and we have also maintained a regular schedule of email communications to keep everyone up to date on our activities and initiatives.
Face to face state branch get-togethers, workshops and seminars, along with our annual Conference, are normally a regular feature of our yearly calendar, but almost all of these had to be postponed due to the extended lockdowns and travel restrictions. Instead, like many industry sectors, we moved extensively into the online realm and held webinars and virtual workshops, which have proven to be a strong success with positive feedback from attendees. With this firm foundation now established, the plan is to expand our program of virtual events into the future. The latest, a webinar with Department of Health Victoria, has just been held on 20 October.
With the gradual easing of restrictions, we have been recently able to schedule some limited face to face activities. In Queensland we were able to hold our awards dinner and presentation along with a workshop, and Western Australia has also hosted their awards night.
Our Victorian branch AGM and awards cocktail party has now been scheduled for 19 November, and will be the first time that Victorian members and supporters have had the chance to see each other face to face in almost a year.
Our SA branch was able to hold an industry breakfast on 28 September at Glenelg Football Club and welcome some new faces along with existing members and supporters. South Australia’s AGM and awards dinner will be held 12 November at the Adelaide Hilton.
Once all state award winners are announced next month, attention will turn to the National Awards set to be presented at our National Conference which will now be held at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from 14-16 February next year.
A selection of photos from the IHHC’s recent WA awards night
The organising committee had been working hard on planning the “best conference ever”, with interest from supporters overwhelming, and plans were sailing along nicely with about six weeks to go when Queensland followed NSW and Victoria and went into lockdowns due to the Delta variant. This inevitably meant the IHHC Board needed to make the difficult decision to postpone. While this was disheartening, it was the most logical decision given half the country was in lockdown at the time. However, we are looking forward more than ever to a successful event in just under four months’ time and cannot wait to welcome you all to Brisbane. Don’t forget that the Conference will also host the inaugural IHHC Culinary Competition!
Last but certainly not least I would like to welcome Nestlé Professional back to the IHHC as one of our valued Platinum Supporters and extend our thanks to them and all our supporters, both Platinum and Gold, for their continued interest and support. We strive to provide opportunities for our supporters to interact with members and exchange ideas, discuss the latest in industry innovation and most importantly develop lasting professional relationships. The absence of face to face activities has naturally impacted on such opportunities. Consequently we have revised the Supporters Package as part of our ongoing efforts to provide greater added value to supporters, and as the nation begins to open up we look forward to welcoming them back to our face to face events.
TROY LITZOW
National Vice President IHHC
