The healthcare system has faced increasing challenges for decades, with the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit further accelerating a number of the pressures due to workforce stress and the difficulty recruiting and retaining staff. Demand for services has grown at a faster rate than the pipeline of new staff. There is a shortage of personnel across the professions in the NHS, with increasing vacancies across the UK and dependency on international recruitment. Additionally, there is growing evidence of organisational stress in the NHS leading to backlogs in planned care, delays in emergency care and organisational deficits.
These challenges are not a lost cause, but they do require a shake-up of the whole health system. From changes in clinical education to develop and support staff capabilities, to applying digital and technological solutions to relieve pressures and improve efficiency; from shifting the balance of care from hospital-based cure to prevention, early diagnosis and management in the community; there are pathways to a future ready health system.
How can we ensure a resilient, future-ready NHS?
How can health professionals be prepared for a digital future?
The University of Plymouth is a powerhouse of healthcare related research and teaching. We train and support professionals from almost every healthcare group, underpinned by world-leading interdisciplinary research that improves the health and care of the populations we serve.
The Plymouth Institute of Health and Care Research (PIHR) hosts this insightful event to stimulate discussion and debate on how the health system can be redesigned for the ‘new normal’. After a networking lunch, the first session focuses on workforce well-being and retention, followed by a second session exploring innovative digital solutions and approaches to shifting the balance of care.
Dr Chiara Dall’Ora, University of Southampton, opens with a keynote talk sharing her expertise on the various factors that affect wellbeing of clinicians in the NHS.
Hear the latest research developments from the University of Plymouth on the wellbeing and retention of the health and social care workforce. Drawing from the extensive work of the Collaboration for the Advancement of Medical Education Research (CAMERa) research group and researchers across the Faculty of Health, topics will explore the best practices for improving mental health support, dementia support, wellbeing and retention across the spectrum of professions including doctors, dentists, carers and nursing.
Invited speakers from across the South West will then share their insights on the health system as a whole and how it could be improved, exploring the innovative solutions that have had success or show potential for overcoming current barriers.
All of this will be framed in context with current UK health policy and how the University’s research responds to the changing landscape of public health systems to benefit professionals and their patients.
You’ll have the opportunity to ask the experts your questions throughout the event, in addition to plenty of networking opportunities.
Need-to-know
This event will be hybrid delivery, meaning you can attend in person or watch the talks streamed live online via Zoom. Please note that the online streaming will take place 13:00-17:30 only.
This event will be of most interest to healthcare workers and academics across the sector, including medicine, dentistry, nursing, allied health professions and social care. It may be particularly relevant to those in roles related to personnel recruitment, professional support services, management; professional regulation and licensing; services and systems management. There may also be topics of interest to those working in digital technology that could be applied to health services, such as eHealth/mHealth/telehealth, virtual reality, app development, and systems implementation.
