Workshop (60 mins) 41st Institute of Hospitality in HealthCare National Conference

Implementing Best Practice Food Allergen Management in Healthcare Settings (21417)

Ingrid Roche 1 2 3 , Bianca Guthrie 4 , Suzanne Kennewell 5 6 , Troy Litzow 7 8 , Denise Cruickshank 7 8
  1. National Allergy Council , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
  2. University of Adelaide , Adelaide , South Australia
  3. Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology & Allergy , Sydney , New South Wales
  4. South Metropolitan Health Service , Perth , Western Australia, Australia
  5. Concord Hospital, Sydney Local Health District , Sydney , New South Wales
  6. Sydney University , Sydney , New South Wales
  7. Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital , Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  8. Queensland Government Dept of Health , Brisbane, Queensland

Background:

Allergic reactions to food eaten away from home commonly occur. In Australia, 10% of infants, 4-5% of children and 2-3 % of adults have food allergy. This places a high burden on food service providers to manage food allergens. People with food allergies report frequent reactions and near misses to food eaten away from home, and high levels of anxiety when eating out, including in healthcare facilities.  

Hospitals and aged care settings have an additional duty of care to provide safe and suitable food to their vulnerable populations, governed by the quality standards specific to each sector. There is one reported death of an inpatient served their food allergen in an Australian hospital within the past 6 years, and many anecdotal reports of near misses. With the incidence of food allergy in the adult population likely to rise in future years, healthcare settings can act now to embed best practice food allergen management across their organisations using a systems-based approach.

About this workshop:

This workshop is aimed at heads of service, nurse managers, catering managers and supervisors, dietitians, support services managers and supervisors, and food service staff, working in hospitals and aged care facilities. It will tap into the expertise of professionals who have worked in healthcare settings to develop and implement best practice food allergen management. Participants will learn the essential elements of food allergen risk management using a systems approach, and the suite of resources and training available. Facilitators and participants will share their experiences across a range of settings, using scenarios and solutions with and without technology, recognising the large variation in technological resources across the sector.

A key outcome of the workshop is for participants to be able to return to work with solutions for a problem or issue from within their workplace or organisation that they bring to the workshop to work on.

Workshop Purpose: To provide participants with skills, knowledge and resources to implement best practice food allergen management in aged care and hospital settings, utilising their existing technology.  

Workshop Learning Outcomes:

Participants will:

1. Understand the legislation and standards that underpin food allergen management in healthcare settings. This includes which quality standards apply specifically to food allergies and food allergen management in hospitals and aged care

2. Be able to apply a systems-based approach to assess and implement best practice food allergen management across their organisation or workplace. This includes resources and tools for implementation

3. Find solutions to risk management problems in their workplace.

4. Identify how to utilise or enhance their existing technology to improve food allergen management and identify technology gaps in their workplace that need addressing.

 

This workshop will have 3-4 facilitators - the 3 authors listed and one to be confirmed with expertise in aged / residential care settings. 

  1. Tang MLK, Mullins RJ, 2017, ‘Food allergy: is prevalence increasing?’ Internal Medicine Journal, vol.47, no. 3, pp. 256-261.
  2. Sasaki, M, Koplin, JJ, Dharmage, SC, Field, MJ, Sawyer, SM, McWilliam, V, Peters, RL, Gurrin, LC, Vuillermin, PJ, Douglass, J, Pezic, A, Brewerton, M, Tang, MLK, Patton, GC & Allen, KJ, 2018, ‘Prevalence of clinic-defined food allergy in early adolescence: The SchoolNuts study’, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, vol. 141, no. 1, pp. 391-398.e4
  3. Zurzolo, G.A., Campbell, D.E., Said, M., Peters, R.L. and Dharmage, S.C. (2022), Anaphylaxis to foods purchased from food establishments in Australia. J Paediatr Child Health, 58: 77-82. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.15651