Commissioning LIVE London kicks off 2016 in great form

Commissioning LIVE London took place on March 3rd, kick starting this year’s run of commissioning events. The conference provided an environment in which attendees could debate opinions, share ideas and hear exciting case-studies from leading innovators in healthcare. We welcomed over 400 attendees to Olympia London from across London, the South East and further afield. Visiting delegates were able to create their own, personalised agenda from the six streams of content, ensuring that they benefitted from the sessions most relevant to their work. Sir Muir Gray CBE who gave the opening keynote address this year: Preventing variation in healthcare to improve national patient outcomes, also wrote the foreword of the event guide where he perfectly summed up the purpose of this conference: “Across all the workstreams of this Commissioning LIVE event, contributors and participants should consider how their work can contribute to optimising value for patients and populations.” Some of the highlights from this year included: Helen Northall, Chief Executive at Primary Care Commissioning presented a case study on Streamlining healthcare through the integration of primary and secondary services. In the Purple Theatre we held a panel session on Parity of esteem: Striking an equal balance between mental and physical health.  And Dr Farooq Ahmad, GP, Colliers Wood Surgery; Diabetes UK Clinical Champion; Clinical Director Dementia and Diabetes, NHS Nerton CCG led a workshop on Medicines optimisation in improving diabetic patient outcomes. This session was supported by Janssen. The Commissioning LIVE Events team are conscious of bringing together the healthcare community with other key stakeholders from the industry, with the event offering an exhibition alongside the conference. Leading pharmaceutical companies, charitable organisations and innovative providers were able to discuss the latest cutting-edge medications and showcase their latest products and services to attendees. What did our delegates think of the event? “Very informative and thought provoking. Good space for networking.” – Claire Rowland, Commissioning Officer “An excellent networking opportunity and [chance to] get an update on the latest NHS commissioning news and developments.” – Elizabeth Mori, Commercial Manager “Good and interesting stands. Keynote speech at beginning was first class.” – Dr Stephen Vaughan-Smith, CCG Board Member Commissioning LIVE events are free to attend for commissioners, GPs, medicines management professionals, nurses, community practitioners, pharmacists, secondary care staff and practice managers. The events have been designed to support healthcare professionals in gaining participatory learning hours, to build their knowledge, and help them to stay at the cutting edge of the latest treatments and guidance. More information can be found here.