Our first University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust Palliative & End of Life Care Conference was held on 11th May 2017.
We had just over 250 delegates, 150 from the local area and 100 from across the country. We heard from national speakers including Claire Henry MBE, CEO, National Council for Palliative Care.
The buzz in the room was phenomenal as staff networked with one another In listening to leading specialists in palliative and end of life care, staff have met CPD and Revalidation requirements, without the expense of attending conferences further afield.
Tickets were sold to external staff, making the event cost neutral.
We also secured some external funding to support attendance from our community Trust partners.
There was a significant amount of work involved in organising the event, including promotion, tickets, invoicing, arranging the programme, exhibition, CPD applications and the venue. However, the organisation paid off, which was confirmed by the fantastic feedback in evaluation forms that were completed by all delegates. We look forward to planning next year’s event, building on the connections made and enthusiasm to improve palliative and end of life care. Such events clearly have a real impact on our staff, but also colleagues across the country.
I would encourage anyone who wants to organise their own educational event to bite the bullet and start asking people who have experience in making these events a success.