Delegates at our 2024 conference were offered a rich and varied programme of breakout panel discussions, picking up on many of the key themes raised by our keynote speakers.
Video recordings of each of these sessions are available to watch below.
Rebuilding trust and sharing power – shifting the dial in tackling health inequalities
Chaired by Maggie Rae, Deputy Director for the South West Regional Public Health Team, this session looked at how the NHS can partner more effectively with the VCFSE sector to address health inequalities.
Despite best intentions, the NHS can struggle to put the individuals and communities we are here to serve at the heart of improvement and innovation. We have a wealth of valuable learning from past and current initiatives. We know that genuine co-production and working in partnership with the wider health and care sector are essential to really understanding the causes for health inequalities before we can then work together to tackle these.
In this session, panellists considered how we can learn from the VCFSE sector to rebuild trust with marginalised communities and build mutually beneficial relationships with all our stakeholders to develop collaborative approaches that begin to shift the dial for tackling health inequalities.
Our guest panellists were Derek Tanner, Enterprise Development Manager Black South West Network; Simon Allen, Chief Executive of Age UK Bath & North East Somerset; Sean Hourigan, Development and Training Manager at The Peer Partnership Brigstowe; and Huda Hajinur, Chief Executive of Caafi Health.
Watch the tackling health inequalities session here.
The need for anti-racist leadership in the NHS – learning lessons from Black Maternity Matters
In the UK, Black mothers are up to four times more likely to die during pregnancy or in the postnatal period than White women. The systemic biases and structural racism behind the figures are an area where improvement has the potential to make real impact.
Led by Health Innovation West of England, Black Maternity Matters is a ground-breaking collaboration tackling the inequitable maternity outcomes faced by Black mothers and their babies, helping to support maternity systems to offer safer, equitable care for all.
Black Maternity Matters is nurturing a supportive community across the West of England for maternity staff, offering peer support, a six-month programme of education and training, and coaching in quality improvement to test change in the workplace.
Colleagues who took part in the first cohort of our new senior leadership training shared their own experiences of the programme: the personal journeys they have been on and how this has changed their own perspectives, and how they’re now implementing changes in their own organisations and models of leadership.
The session was chaired by Aisha Thomas, Director of Representation Matters, and one of the founding members of the Black Maternity Matters collaborative and co-designer of the training and education programme.
The panellists taking part in this frank and honest conversation were Maria Kane, Joint Chief Executive of North Bristol NHS Trust and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust; Steve Hams, Chief Nursing Officer for North Bristol NHS Trust; and Dawn Morrall, Assistant Director of Midwifery for at NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board.
Watch the Black Maternity Matters session here.
The role of health and life sciences in driving regional economic growth
Chaired by Paddy Bradley, Board Member of Health Innovation West of England, this session built on the theme of health and wealth, a connection Jordan Cummins began exploring in his keynote talk earlier in the day.
Health and life sciences are quite different sectors from an economic and regional growth perspective. What part does each play in supporting and driving our regional economy here in the West of England? How are they currently contributing and are we maximising their potential?
Are there opportunities for our local health, care and life sciences sectors to play a stronger role in generating economic growth? How can we better work together to champion and boost these interconnected sectors for the benefit of all our communities’ health and prosperity?
The panel featured Joanne Medhurst, Chief Medical Officer at Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB; Peter Allen, General Manager Bath ASU, part of the Pharmaxo Group; Chris Molloy, Chief Executive of the Medicines Discovery Catapult; and Jordan Cummins, UK Competitiveness Director at the CBI (Confederation of British Industry).
Watch the driving economic growth session here.
Supporting our health and care workforce
How do we best support our workforce to embrace the potential of innovation to transform how we deliver services and provide the safest patient care?
Is it possible to create an innovative, collaborative culture where NHS staff are encouraged to take risks and experiment with new ways of working while maintaining efficiency and patient safety?
Chaired by Shane Devlin, Chief Executive of Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board, this session explored the links between culture, safety, innovation and productivity.
Panellists shared their own insights and experiences around how we balance the tensions between efficiency and creativity.
The panel featured Matt Hill, Consultant Anaesthetist at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Foundation Trust; Marc Griffiths, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Health at UWE Bristol; and Suzanne Bailey, Lead Behaviourist at Akumen Ltd.
Watch the workforce session here.
Thank you to all our panellists and chairs for taking part in these valuable and insightful discussions, and we look forward to continuing many of these conversations in the weeks and months ahead.
Explore further content from our 2024 conference here.
Posted on December 6, 2024
