Press release: Record attendance at NHS Confederation Annual Conference

22 May 2002

Opening the NHS Confederation's annual conference and exhibition in Harrogate today, chairman Mrs Dianne Jeffrey welcomed over 1550 delegates, leaders and managers from all sectors of the NHS and health. Speaking to delegates she said, "the theme of this year's conference is culture change and how to go about creating it."

Highlights of the Conference include:

Wednesday 22 May

• Speech by NHS Confederation Chief Executive Gill Morgan, 
• Plenary session: "Why is it so difficult to create high performance healthcare systems and organisations, and what we can do about it?
  

Thursday 23 May

• Speech by Nigel Crisp, CX of the NHS and Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health 
• Conference strands on the changing workforce, patients, redesigning services and futures. During the futures strand, delegates will be asked to vote on controversial questions, including:
  - Is the tax based system the fairest?
  - Is it realistic to depoliticise the NHS?
  - Is Kidderminster a one-off or the beginning of a trend?
  

Friday 24 May

• Plenary session on why doctors are unhappy and the importance of clinical leadership 
• Speech by Secretary of State
  

This year's conference will feature innovative live webcasts, providing instant internet links to key plenary sessions and speeches, to view the webcasts visit the website at www.nhsconfed.org/connecting/webcasts

Ends

Notes for editors

The NHS Confederation's annual conference is taking place in Harrogate between 22 and 24 May 2002.

The NHS Confederation represents the organisations that make up the NHS. Our members include the majority of NHS trusts, primary care trusts and health authorities in England; trusts, health authorities and local health groups in Wales; trusts and NHS boards in Scotland; and health and social services trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.

The main sponsors for this year's conference are:
MSD
BT health
Pfizer
Priory Healthcare

Further information on the conference's sponsors is available on the website at www.nhsconfed.org/connecting

Contact details

1. Contact Media Relations Manager Joanna Clason on 020 7074 3306 or 07798 571078 or Senior Media Officer Amy Darlington on 020 7074 3304 or 07767 770309. For out of hours media enquiries, please call the Duty Press Officer on 07880 500726.
   

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