Each year the IHHC recognises the good work done by individuals and teams across our industry and publicly acknowledges them through our Awards for Excellence.

In this issue we are pleased to be able to present you our 2024 State Winners, beginning with WA which was the first IHHC State Branch to present its Awards for the year, followed by SA, Vic/Tas and Qld/NSW.

We extend congratulations to each of our State Award winners, who will now go on to compete against each other for the National Award titles. The National winners, along with the recipient of this year’s Rosemary Anne Pirie OAM Award – the highest honour the IHHC can bestow – will be announced during a lavish Dinner Presentation on the final night of this year’s IHHC National Conference to be held at Crown Perth on the evening of 6 November.

We have recently introduced two new categories to the Awards - the Sustainability Award and the Advocacy Award, which is open to supporters, companies and consultants who work with healthcare providers to advocate for innovation and service improvement for the benefit of their clients.

Nardeen Leppinus, Quality Assurance & Training Officer, Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group (FSFHG)

Nardeen has been working at Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group (FSFHG) for the past 10 years. As part of the FSFHG Nutrition and Hydration Working Group, the Fremantle Hospital Food Rescue Project and most recently within projects at Cockburn and Rottnest Nursing Post, Nardeen has worked to ensure the experience for patients is the best it can be. With Nardeen’s encouragement, staff spoke up and volunteered to assist with the Food Rescue audits (see the Sustainability Award below for more information on this worthwhile initiative). Nardeen’s involvement in communication and training of foodservice attendants regarding the Food Rescue process was critical to the project’s success.

Nardeen is approachable and gentle in her interactions and always has time for others. When a new meal service was commenced in the Emergency Department, Nardeen assisted on all shifts even if she wasn’t rostered on and acted as a conduit between nursing leads and staff to manage any issues. Nardeen advocated for extra time and support for the foodservice attendants, leading to an extra shift being added to the ED.

“I was extremely emotional when I received the email just to tell me I’d been nominated for the Award,” Nardeen says. “Then when I went to the Awards presentation and actually won, knowing I’d been nominated by colleagues I was sitting next to, it was so overwhelming I burst into tears! I was so grateful for that as at no point had I imagined winning – I had to be reminded by three people during the Awards night that I had won!

Nardeen is passionate about her work at FSFHG. “It’s all about maintaining the exceptionally high standard of the services we provide, and I’m very passionate about the training and food sides of the role. I onboard and train all new staff that come into the facility, which is a big responsibility. I’m involved in lots of working groups to improve the patient experience and I love to jump in and keep my own skills up to date. I try to be hands-on whenever it’s needed – it’s very rewarding and I’m blessed to work with a great team.”

Monika Prime Implementation Project, Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group (FSHFHG)

Since opening in 2014, Fiona Stanley hospital has relied on Monika’s digital solution to maintain critical food safety protocols. Initially the hospital used Monika’s Legacy System, but recently migrated to MonikaPrime, a transition which required the Monika team to upgrade and implement the system across more than 50 different locations within a two week window.

The upgrade has resulted in paper waste reduction by replacing printed information with digital time stamped data and streamlined Food Safety Plan processes. You can read what FSH Catering Manager Genaveve Palmer has to say about the project here.

Monika Managing Director Paul Gamble says, “This was a little different from our standard projects in that there were three parties involved – Serco who delivers the facilities management and workforce services at FSH, South Metropolitan Health Service which runs FSFHG, and ourselves.

“We worked closely with Serco who manage all the infrastructure such as the ethernet and wifi upon which our hardware and devices depend, and we also worked with South Metro Health to ensure the MonikaPrime solution was configured in alignment with their Food Safety Plan. Essentially the project was to migrate from the local on-premises client server that housed our Legacy System to the MonikaPrime cloud-hosted solution.

“We also expanded our equipment management to include live monitoring of the freezer sectors of fridges across each ward pantry of the hospital. The size of the system increased significantly – we now have about 90 monitoring units in place, which is quite a large number, and they’re across some 30 wards because FSH is such a big hospital. And finally we upgraded the Monika Legacy handheld readers and probes that allow operators to check temperatures and tasks to Monika’s smart mobile Android device that hosts MonikaPrime. This is touchscreen operated and it allows kitchen tasks and temperature checks to be completed and recorded digitally, making the process much more simple and efficient.”

Paul says the Monika team were flattered to have won the Award. “We strive to build lifelong relationships with our customers – that’s at the forefront of what we come to work for every day. I feel that receiving the Award is a recognition of the efforts that each and every one of our team members makes on an ongoing basis. We’re always trying to do our best every day and this is a terrific  acknowledgement that we’re going in the right direction and doing a great job.”

Food Rescue Project, Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group (FSFHG)

The FSFHG Food Rescue Project aims to reduce food waste while making a positive impact on the community. By rescuing portion controlled items from Fiona Stanley Hospital and Fremantle Hospital, the project has reduced landfill and provided much-needed support to local charities.

Libby Matthew, Senior Foodservice Dietitian and Head of Department Dietetics at FSFHG, says “the team were pretty stoked to win – obviously this has been a major initiative for us, some five years in the making and it’s been a massive success. It was terrific to be recognised for all the hard work that’s been put in to get it up and running.

“We started in October last year by rescuing portion controlled items off patient trays – in the past that wasn’t allowed but we undertook some research and testing which showed it would be feasible to reuse these items. We began by donating them to Oz Harvest and Portcare (a Fremantle-based charity group), and from last October to this July we donated more than seven tonnes of predominantly shelf-stable breakfast items such as PC packed jams, cereals and fruit, along with some PC sauces and dressings from the lunch menu.

“Our aim was to do this with no extra cost – we tried to make it as simple as possible so staff could achieve it within their daily routines. Then in July we began to reuse the items within the hospital over a weekly cycle – this meant getting the approval of Infection Control so they could cycle back through the hospital supply chain. Then on the weekend the charity groups come and collect, so we’re still donating but we’re reusing more too – that cuts down our costs as we don’t have to buy in as much new stock, and because we’re still donating leftover stock once it’s gone through the reuse cycle, we can be sure that the items are ultimately used in advance of their expiry dates.”

Libby says the project’s success exemplifies FSFHG’s focus on sustainability. “The project team encompassed dietetics, catering, sustainability and infection control – there were about eight of us altogether, with FSFHG Operations Manager Steve Shutt acting as the project manager.

“The hospitality and catering team members went along to receive the Award on the night – catering run the kitchens, and hospitality are the patient service attendants who deliver the meals to patients and collect the PC items from the wards. It is a real group effort and it was wonderful the way everyone came on board because they hated to see food waste and wanted to take some positive action.”

Ashwani Kumar, Chef, Catholic Homes - Sister Mary Glowery Residential Care

Since joining the commissioning team at Sister Mary Glowery, Ashwani has demonstrated exceptional dedication, overseeing the recruitment and rostering of all kitchen staff. He has also been responsible for comprehensive training for all kitchen staff and carers to ensure meals and prepared and served to the highest standards.

Ashwani meets personally with every new resident to understand their individual preferences and tastes, and continuously follows up to ensure any changes are reflected in the meals provided. He leads by example and has built a team who are dedicated to putting the resident first, while creating a menu that delivers on both taste and nutrition.

A family member who frequently spends time at the facility with his wife expressed his deep appreciation for Ashwani’s work and dedication, calling him “the star of Sister Mary Glowery” and emphasising that while many of the staff are helpful, Ashwani always goes the extra mile to ensure a truly enjoyable experience.

Ashwani says winning the Award came as a surprise and he feels great about it. “We work very hard, so to win the Award is a great motivator – not just for myself but my team too, it encourages us to build new chefs, new future leaders. I’ve been at Sister Mary Glowery since commissioning of the site, almost a year now, but I’ve been in hospitality for the past 20 years. I love to go upstairs and have a chat and lunch with the residents – if my food can make them smile, that gives a lot of satisfaction to myself and my team.

“The appreciation expressed in their words is a big thing for us. That’s why I always ask them what they want and try to include it on our specials and we go and meet them personally. Even the family members who visit are coming to buy lunches from us and they seem very happy. Every day is like an adventure for us.”

Damiano Montagnese, Hotel Services Manager, Catholic Homes WA

Damiano manages hotel services across all six Catholic Homes residential care homes in WA and has been in the role for two and a half years. He leads his team through example by being passionate about what he does and stays motivated and energetic no matter what the task in hand. He communicates with such positivity and enthusiasm that people are brought on board and willing to assist before the end of the conversation. Damiano is an inspirational and transformational leader with an excitement and drive to achieve through a positive attitude and empathic nature.

Damiano recently introduced a ‘resident choice’ day on the menu, where a different resident each week can choose what they would like to eat in addition to the everyday planned choices, and this has proven to be a great success. Residents have been able to choose from homemade recipes such as beef stew and other favourites, sometimes from their country of origin so as to ensure they meet cultural needs and preferences.

He has also introduced resident cooking classes with the chef across a number of sites and custom designed tabletop menus so the residents know what food is on offer on any given day.

“When my manager told me she had nominated me for the Award I was quite surprised, and certainly very pleased to have won,” Damiano tells us. “We work very hard and it feels really good to be recognised.”

Damiano was also an integral part of the team which won the Project of the Year Award – more information on that below.

The Dining Experience 2024, Catholic Homes WA

“We wanted the residents to be more involved not only in the choice of what they wanted to eat, but also in the way their meals are served,” explains Catholic Homes WA Hotel Services Manager Damiano Montagnese. “When residents are involved in creation of the menus and can put forward their opinions, they’re more likely to consume the food that’s served to them. It’s about creating a better dining experience and making sure they feel like they’re in their own home – because at the end of the day, the residential aged care facility is their home, and we want them to feel at home here.”

Damiano makes the point that not everyone always wants to sit in the dining room or eat with the same group of people every day. “We just have to remember that everyone’s different. Just because I happen to like fine dining doesn’t mean everyone wants that – some people might prefer a sandwich, some might want to sit in the dining room but others might want to have a meal in front of the TV. My idea was to try to recreate the home environment and make sure the residents have the final say in everything they do.

“We realised that to do that we needed to involve every person from the facility manager to the chefs, carers, kitchenhands and cleaners – we wanted the staff to know how the residents feel when they sit down to eat. So we undertook some role plays with staff where some were given food or snacks without being asked whether they wanted it or whether they might have a food allergy, to show how you can impact the residents if you don’t give them the agency of choice.

“We ended up having residents joining in the training as well, which provided valuable feedback on what the dining experience needed to be. Our approach is all about asking how we can give the residents the freedom to choose, and how we can support them to be independent in everything they want to do, and the dining experience needs to be in line with this.”

After planning the menus, redefining the standards for the table settings and in-room dining and undertaking the training sessions, the residents are now more involved, they eat more and they contribute more. “Everyone pulled together,” Damiano says, “especially my team and Stephanie Ellwood who worked closely with me on the project.

“It was important for everyone to understand that the more the residents have a choice and can contribute, the better the outcome for all of us. Imagine a resident who’s not eating – they’re not likely to have a good night’s rest and that in turn leads to more risks, more problems. Whereas if they enjoy their meal and social interaction they go to bed happy at the end of the day.”