It’s exactly two weeks until our annual conference. ‘London Calling’ reflects the fact that caring for Londoners’ complex health needs is more of a calling than a job for the Capitals’s dedicated GPs, practice nurses, practice managers and the whole practice team.
By bringing together experts in their field, our aim is to support GPs and practice teams to meet the challenges they face: joining up with the rest of the health system to get the right care for patients; empowering patients to overcome lifestyle drivers of ill-health, rather than expecting general practice to medicate their problems away; and making sense of technological changes, both in delivering care and managing patient data.
There’s enough to say on each of these topics to fill a day on their own, so how have we managed to cram it all in? Well, here are some highlights from a great line-up:
Two of the leading voices in the national debate on obesity and diabetes, Sir Muir Gray and Dr Aseem Malhotra, will each be giving a talk on where they think conventional wisdom is failing us, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A on how we can drive lifestyle and diet changes.
Professor Martin Marshall of UCL and the RCGP will be exploring whether we are trying to do too much of the wrong things in his talk “re-thinking medicine”, challenging us on over-medicalisation and how communities can play a greater role in keeping people healthy.
Dr Ruth Tinson will provide a unique perspective as both a GP and Assistant Medical Director at London Ambulance Service and will ask how two over-stretched services can actually support each other, as well as expanding on the new role of paramedic practitioners.
Ruth and Martin will also be joining myself and Colin Brown, the British Red Cross’ Director for Independent Living and Crisis Response, for a panel discussion on how to reduce loneliness and the health implications of living in isolation.
We have two rounds of workshops which are full of practical tips covering topics including social prescribing, digital enablers for patient care, resilience and avoiding burnout, GDPR (which comes into effect three weeks after the conference on 25 May) and a nurse-led session on how to work with community services.
Throughout the day broadcast journalist and writer Tazeen Ahmad will be chairing proceedings, using all of her experience in live discussion to keep the assembled brain power on time and on topic.
We have many more excellent speakers and compelling topics than I have been able to highlight here, so please do read the full agenda for the conference and book your free place here. I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 2 May!
Last updated : 18 Apr 2018