Dysphagia affects thousands of people across the UK, particularly within healthcare and care home settings. At Birchall Foodservice, we’re passionate about helping our customers provide safe, nutritious, and visually appealing meals for those living with dysphagia.
Our dysphagia training is designed for chefs, kitchen staff, and carers working in the care and healthcare sectors. The sessions are delivered by Gary Brailsford, founder of Dining with Dignity, a leading dysphagia training specialist with years of hands-on experience supporting care homes and NHS services.
Gary’s practical, engaging approach focuses on helping caterers understand the IDDSI (International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative) framework and apply it confidently in the kitchen, ensuring every meal is safe, nutritious, and dignified.
Each session is designed to give catering and care teams the skills, knowledge, and confidence to prepare meals that are both safe and enjoyable for residents living with dysphagia.
Participants learn how to adapt everyday recipes to meet each of the IDDSI levels, from puréed (Level 4) through to soft and bite-sized (Level 6) — without compromising on taste, texture, or presentation. Through hands-on demonstrations, Gary Brailsford guides attendees on how to test consistencies, thicken foods and drinks correctly, and fortify recipes to maintain essential nutrition and hydration.
The training also covers best practice for meal presentation, showing how thoughtful plating and colour contrast can restore dignity and appetite for residents with swallowing difficulties. Whether you’re preparing a puréed roast dinner, a soft dessert, or a fortified snack, you’ll leave with practical techniques and a clear understanding of how to deliver mealtime experiences that look and taste as good as they are safe.
Our comprehensive course structure includes:
- Dysphagia awareness and care training
- Safe food preparation techniques following the IDDSI framework
- Consistency testing and evaluation methods
- Nutrition and fortification advice to maintain healthy calorie and protein intake
- Plating and presentation skills to make meals appetising and recognisable
- Practical cooking demonstrations from Gary
By completing dysphagia training with Birchall Foodservice, your team will:
- Improve resident safety and wellbeing
- Gain confidence in preparing texture-modified meals
- Understand IDDSI testing and terminology
- Enhance meal presentation and nutritional value
- Support best practice standards
Our goal is to help every care kitchen deliver safe, dignified, and enjoyable dining experiences.
Don't just take our word for it
Begin your relationship with Birchalls
Birchall works closely with healthcare customers to understand their goals, budgets and operational needs. Our regional account managers take the time to assess your current setup and can recommend the right training, products and solutions for your business.
We pride ourselves on our transparent pricing, flexible service levels and long-term relationships, offering tailored support for everything from product sampling to training. Speak to our expert, in-house team today to begin your relationship with Birchall Foodservice.
FAQs
Our dysphagia training events usually last 4 hours, starting at 10am and finishing at approximately 2pm. There is 45 minute lunch break in the middle of the event.
Yes, we provide all refreshments, including pastries on arrival, tea & coffee, soft drinks, water, and lunch.
The word dysphagia is pronounced:
👉 dis-FAY-juh
Here’s the breakdown:
-
dis – sounds like the word “dis” in discover
-
FAY – rhymes with day
-
juh – a soft “j” sound, like the start of jump
📣 Phonetic spelling: /dɪsˈfeɪ.dʒə/
Estimates range from 50% to 75% of individuals in nursing homes have some degree of swallowing difficulty. Prevalence is even higher in older residents with conditions like dementia or stroke, and can be as high as 70%, notes the NHS.
