About this event

  • Date and time Tue 16 Apr 2024 from 8:00am to 6:00pm
  • Location Royal Society of Medicine
  • Organised by Medicine and Society

The NHS has a serious workforce crisis, 10% vacancy rates are common across the country and across professional groups, often higher. This was true before Covid. Post-covid, record levels of burnout and high numbers exiting the NHS are reported. At the same time the nature of healthcare work is changing. The impact of technology, AI, demographics, public expectations, amongst others, means our workforce needs to change too.

This can be a perfect storm or the opportunity for renewal. However you see it, come and join us to hear leaders from across the NHS, local government, social care providers, the voluntary and community sector and those with lived experience of services, share their stories and contribute to the discussion about what we want the future for NHS staff to be like.

In partnership with the Health Innovation Network, this conference will provide a forum for discussion of the current crisis facing the NHS and the opportunities for change.

By attending this conference, you will: 

  • Gain and consolidate an overview of the drivers influencing the shape of the future healthcare workforce 
  • Discuss these drivers in relation to the themes in the NHS Long Term Plan: Train, Retain and Reform
  • Have an opportunity to learn from other industries and countries 
  • Identify next steps to inform a post-conference report

The primary aim of the conference is to provide a forum for discussion of the current crisis facing the healthcare workforce and the potential opportunities for change alongside the introduction of technology and AI. We hope to help participants think creatively outside the usual recruit and retain approach to workforce planning. We will produce a briefing paper for the conference and an output paper – the two together will be a publishable ‘so what next’ report. This will help the deliberations of the conference to be influential outside the discussions on the day.  

 

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Tickets

Early Bird pricing available until 04 March 2024.

Member

RSM Fellow
Day 1
£97.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)
RSM Associate
Day 1
£65.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)
RSM Retired Fellow
Day 1
£65.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)
RSM Trainee
Day 1
£65.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)
RSM Student
Day 1
£40.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)

Non - Member

Consultant / GP / SAS Doctors
Day 1
£165.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)
Non Healthcare Professional
Day 1
£165.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)
AHP / Nurse / Midwife
Day 1
£105.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)
Trainee
Day 1
£105.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)
Student
Day 1
£65.00 Conference
£55.00 Dinner
(optional)

Agenda

View the programme

Before the conference

A briefing paper covering data on recruitment and retention, alongside a summary of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will be sent to all attendees before the conference. A report will be produced post-conference.

Breakfast session

Mindfulness

Invest an hour at the beginning of the day to centre yourself, release stress, and connect with your purpose as we engage in breathwork, movement, journaling and communal reflection accompanied by a live mix of ambient sounds that will take us on a journey around the planet.

Places limited. Please book your place when registering for the event.

Registration, tea and coffee

Session one: Looking to the future

Chair: Professor Roger Kirby, President, Royal Society of Medicine

The context

Data and policy: Dr Siân Rees, President, Medicine and Society Section, Royal Society of Medicine

Looking to the future

The future of the professions: Professor Richard Susskind, OBE, Author, Speaker and Independent Advisor 

The patient of the future: Mr Jono Broad, Patient Leader

The role of the population, the Wanless Report 20 years on: Professor Maggie Rae CBE, FFPH, FRCP (Hon), FRCP Edin, FRCPath (Hon), FFSRH (Hon), FFOM (Hon), FRSPH, President, Epidemiology and Public Health Section, Royal Society of Medicine

 

Discussion with audience

Tea and coffee break

Session two: Workstreams - Your thoughts and ideas

We will run four workstreams addressing key issues in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan: Train, Retain and Reform. The sessions will include hearing from policy makers, researchers and people making a difference in practice.  Sessions will be interactive, participants will be posed questions to discuss, and then feedback their thoughts and ideas. Each workstream will have reporters who will summarise the session and share this with all participants in the afternoon.

Please indicate which workstream you would like to join on your registration.
Who does what, and how?

Personally, getting the most out of work, and organisationally getting the best from the workforce needs everyone to have balance in what they do. Enough to do within one’s sphere of competence, a mix of routine and challenge, and the support to deliver great care are all necessary. The emergence of new roles and the continued need for basic administrative support prompts the debate about professional responsibilities and boundaries.

The role of technology and innovation

Technology and innovation has a huge potential to create more time and space for clinicians through enhanced diagnostics, streamlining of administrative processes, and the potential of AI to support health analytics. However, this requires change in the workforce both in terms of the training required to get the best out of technology and the need for skill mix change.

Bringing joy back to work

Further information to be confirmed

Culture and the organisation

We all know that culture eats strategy for breakfast. The NHS plan is a good start, but the reality will be in how it is implemented.  It is the behaviours of our leaders, top to bottom and end to end, individually and collectively” that creates an organisations culture (Michael West). How do we ensure that our organisations embody the values of the NHS, support the aspirations of our staff, whilst at the same time providing great patient care?

Lunch

Session three: Learning from others

Chair: Professor Gillian Leng, CBE, Dean of Education, Royal Society of Medicine

Feedback from morning workstreams

Trainees Section, Royal Society of Medicine

Learning from other countries

Speaker to be confirmed

Learning from other industries

Dr Mark Davies, Global Chief Health Officer, IBM

Bringing four to the fore: The 4 day week is better for everyone in healthcare

Dr Dale Whelehan, Chief Executive Officer, 4 Day Week Global and Lecturer, Smurfit Graduate School of Business, University College Dublin

Discussion with audience

Tea and coffee break

Session four: So what next?

Chair: Vivienne Parry, OBE, Broadcaster and Journalist

Panel discussion

Ms Caroline Waterfield, Director Development and Employment, NHS Employers

Mr Jon Restel, Chief Executive, Managers in Partnership

Dr Vivek Trivedi, Junior Doctors Committee Co-chair, British Medical Association

Sir Tom Hughes Hallett, Founder, Helpforce

Discussion with audience
Close of meeting

Drinks reception

Dinner

Places limited. Please book your place when registering for the event.

Location

Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, Marylebone, London, W1G 0AE, United Kingdom

 

Registration for this event will close at 1:00am on Monday 15 April 2024. Late registrations will not be accepted.

The agenda is subject to change at any time

If the event is recorded, we are only able to share presentations that we have received permission to share. There is no guarantee that all sessions will be available after the event, this is at the presenter’s and RSM’s discretion.

All views expressed at this event are of the speakers themselves and not of the Royal Society of Medicine, nor the speaker's organisations.

This event will be recorded and stored by the Royal Society of Medicine and may be distributed in future on various internet channels.