As of May 2019, the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) was placed into effect at the Friendly Society Private Hospital.

IDDSI has been created with a board of various professionals working within nutrition, dietetics, medicine, speech pathology, occupational therapy, nursing, patient safety, engineering and food science.

The main goal of IDDSI is to develop international standardised terminology and definitions for texture modified foods and modified liquids for patients with dysphagia.

Currently, regional or national labels are used interchangeably throughout facilities working with dysphagia management. The issue between facilities/regions and their labelling and naming standards allows for clinical risk and confusion between modified diets and fluids.

The new standards of IDDSI are classed on a numerical scale, with values representing specific diet and fluid modifications. All dietary changes will be completed using this new scale to allow for clarity of diets and minimise clinical risk. There is an expected period of change management however we will try to manage this as seamlessly as possible.

Implementation for IDDSI will require all nursing staff, food service staff and speech pathology staff to adhere to these new standards. The standards are in the process of being implemented in the hospital which will begin this month.

If you have any further enquiries about IDDSI please visit https://iddsi.org/ or ask to speak to a Speech Pathologist.

Reference: The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative 2016 @https://iddsi.org/framework/