Page 6 - NACC – 2018 Yearbook

6
Neel Radia
reports
The NACC national chair re ects on the past 12 months and gives a taste of what’s to come for the dynamic association and its members.
I’m half way through my third term ( fth year) as chairman for the NACC and I can’t quite believe how fast time has gone!
Over the past ve years, we’ve witnessed and been part of many changes in health and
social care, including the steady decline in funding that has trickled its way to
the services we as caterers provide to those in our care. With less funding, we’ve experienced increased strain and more obstacles in meeting our
service objectives, training our teams and more.
We live in a time where the population’s needs are constantly changing. We are living longer. This is a success story that should be celebrated, but we can’t ignore
the profound consequences this presents for the care and health services we will need to support
an ageing nation in growth. Despite the uncertainties of
long-term funding, one thing we can be certain of is that good, quality care can transform lives. It can help people live
their best life possible. It enhances health and wellbeing and increases independence,
choice and control.
We all know this, but it’s always good to remind people that food and dining is a crucial factor when selecting care. Mealtimes are one of the most important parts of the day that people in care settings look forward to. Our goal is that mealtimes should always be amazing experiences and we will keep raising awareness of this.
We have such incredible chefs and catering managers amongst our members, supported by inspiring suppliers, that create the perfect collaboration to generate change. The many examples of innovation and brilliance born out of austerity are testament to this. And, with the NACC behind them, we allow our members voices to be heard and work with them to help overcome some of the challenges faced.
We are committed to continuing to actively shape the future of care catering. Our work over the past ve years (and indeed the past 30 years!) and that of the future is all about supporting our members. Here’s an update on what we’ve been up to...
A QUESTION OF QUALIFICATION
At the NACC Training and Development Forum last year, we proudly announced that the long-awaited quali cation for chefs in health and social care catering had received Ofqual recognition and was to be part of the Institute of Hospitality (IOH) awarding body. Since then we’ve worked closely with the IOH, the Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality (who has taken over IOH’s education courses) and the Hospital Caterers Association to recruit learning centres to provide the excellent course. It was also agreed that the name of the quali cation should change to ‘CTH (IOH) Level 2 Specialist Award for Chefs in Health and Social Care Catering’.
I’m thrilled to report that we already have two learning centres signed up, with the rst course starting on 28 September at Barnet Southgate College, London. Keeping it relevant, the quali cation will also support the new IDDSI Texture Modi ed Meals framework.
MEALS ON WHEELS
We’re all aware that the historic underfunding of social care, which forced councils to save a
INTRODUCTION TO THE NACC