Organisers of the perioperative industry’s leading residential conference - AfPP Residential 2019 - have announced a record number of attendees at their annually-held conference.
The three-day residential conference, which was first held in 2013, attracted over 480 delegates and 46 exhibitors, making it the largest residential conference the Association for Perioperative Practice has hosted over the past six years.
According to CEO of the association, Dawn Stott, attendees travelled from across the globe to immerse themselves in the association’s ethos through CPD accredited lectures, specialist workshops, industry exhibitions and a new entertainment line-up.
“This year, we saw a fantastic mix of perioperative professionals, students and medical companies join us at our conference,” Stott said. “It’s one of our most successful events yet and we can credit some of that to our kind sponsors, who made a number of free places available to students.”
She also attributed the record attendance to the “hard work” of the HQ team and the “new-look agenda” that provided delegates with more flexibility to attend the educational workshops and increased entertainment.
The residential conference which took place at York University, features a variety of lectures, silent workshops, seminars, panel talks, the famous Gala Dinner and some of the industry’s top key-note speakers.
Speaking for the first time at the conference, Chris Pointon, co-founder of the #hellomynameis campaign, delivered a must-hear speech about the importance of introductions in healthcare, covering the inspirational story of his late wife Dr Kate Granger MBE.
Other inspiring individuals to speak were:
· Jules Wyman- Coach and Professional Speaker – In her talk ‘how infectious are you?’ Jules shared her personal journey through the health care system in the UK and the impact that two particular consultants had on her. She discussed how others can learn from them to make a difference to themselves, their work and their home lives.
- Adam Alderson ‘The Yorkshire Yak’ - As one of only four people in the world to have survived an eight-organ transplant and radical tumour de-bulking surgery, Adam demonstrated the difference that organ donations can make to those dealing with terminal diagnosis. Adam spoke of his recovery and why he decided he wanted to take on one of the world’s biggest motoring challenges – The Mongol Rally
- Rob Tomlinson, Junior Charge Nurse and campaign lead of the 10,000 Feet Initiative- As campaign lead of the concept, an airline safety initiative adopted in East Lancashire to reduce the risk of hospital theatre errors caused by noise, distraction and poor communication, Rob discussed ways to stop all unnecessary noise in a theatre and allow practitioners at all levels to concentrate completely on their work
- Dr Harriet Palfreyman, Historian of Medicine at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester - Harriet delivered her winning presentation, The Time Travelling Operating Theatre: How the past can inform the future. The public engagement project stages recreations of surgeries from three time periods and has been delivered in museums across the world.
The highlight of the event for many was the launch of Professor Harold Ellis’s new book, 'Tales of the Operating Theatre and Other Essays', a book bringing to life significant medical moments from throughout history and his 71 years in practice.
The launch saw over 100 people line up to receive a signed copy of his book and have a picture with the Professor.
“Professor Ellis is such an inspiration to those within the perioperative and associated areas, so it’s no surprise he received the welcome that he did.” Stott said.
“Whilst, it was one of the highlights of the event, many of the delegates reported to us that the entire conference was an all-round excellent, educational experience.
“Our aim with the conference has always been to educate fellow professionals in a fun way, and we really feel that this year we achieved that.
“Not only did we provide the educational workshops and the like, we also opened up the opportunity for our sponsors and exhibitors to educate delegates about their products and services, and how they enhance patient safety.”
Among the 48 exhibitors were key sponsors Unisurge, Stryker Surgical, Hill Rom, 3M, Spire Healthcare, Farla Medical, Royal Cornwall NHS Trust, BD Medical Technology and ConMed, who each displayed the latest patient safety enhancing equipment.
Following the success of this year’s conference, AfPP have already scheduled the 2020 Conference to take place on 10 – 13 September and have begun to receive interest from people wishing to book.
Early bird places are set to be released soon. To reserve your place, email kelly.squires@afpp.org.uk
Photo: Professor Harold Ellis and AfPP president, Tracey Williams
