Bristol Health Partners HIT Conference 2019 highlights
Bristol Health Partners Health Integration Teams took the opportunity to network, share ideas and hear from key speakers from the local health and care system, at their annual Health Integration Team (HIT) conference on 26 June 2019.
- 23rd August 2019
Bristol Health Partners Health Integration Teams took the opportunity to network, share ideas and hear from key speakers from the local health and care system, at their annual Health Integration Team (HIT) conference on 26 June 2019. More than 125 people attended, including academics, clinicians, commissioners, members of the public, patients and others from organisations across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.
The day started with an exclusive training session for HITs, focussed on communicating for impact and clarity. The aim of the session was to help HIT representatives become more versatile communicators and included discussions about ways to influence diverse audiences.
After lunch, Andrea Young, Chief Executive of North Bristol Trust and Chair of the Bristol Health Partners Board, introduced the afternoon’s programme. She was followed by David Wynick, Chair of the Bristol Health Partners Executive Group, who showcased the HITs’ achievements over the last year.
The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Reducing inequalities and how to measure value and impact’. Four panellists took part in a thought-provoking discussion on the topic, and then took questions from HIT members.
The next session – a poster presentation – got everyone up on their feet and talking to new people about achievements over the last year. In keeping with this year’s theme, the display area also showcased artwork from the influential National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care West (NIHR CLAHRC West) low dead space materials research project to promote safer equipment and practices for injecting drugs. Posters from Oli Williams’ Equity is the Answer exhibition, which challenges myths about health and equality, were also on display.
In the day’s final segment, Julian Walker of Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP) led in conversation sessions with HIT members who are motivated personally to make a difference. First was Ruth Jackson, CEO of Bluebell Care, a charity she set up to support parents with perinatal depression, and co-director of the Improving Perinatal Mental Health (IMPROVE) HIT.
Ruth was followed by Nura Aabe, who leads community organisation Autism Independence. After her son was diagnosed with autism, Nura was determined to improve support and education for families living with this diagnosis in Bristol’s Somali community. She was joined on stage by her co-researchers Fiona Fox and Dheeraj Raj from the University of Bristol to discuss the project, which resulted in April’s powerful Overcoming Barriers film.
This year’s event also saw the launch of the 2018-19 Bristol Health Partners annual review.
Bristol Health Partners Chief Operating Officer, Lisa King, said:
“Our HIT conference is a highlight of our year at Bristol Health Partners. We’re so glad to be able to give our HITS the opportunity to share ideas and find out about each other’s work. Partnership is what we do, so it’s great to see the enduring power of our partnership in action, bringing people together from across the region’s health and care sector to discuss new perspectives and challenges in a fun, creative and supportive space.
“I’d like to thank everyone who helped make the day such a success, particularly Louise for all her hard work, both in preparation for the conference and on the day itself. It’s great to see this reflected in the feedback we received from our members. Thank you.”
Feedback from the day
HIT members tweeted enthusiastically throughout the day using #BHPhitconf. See what they said.
Almost all (90 per cent) respondents to the event’s evaluation form said the conference fully or partially met their expectations, and over 90 per cent rated the conference structure, organisation and networking opportunities as excellent or good.
“An excellent discussion about prioritisation and ethics – one we need more of”
“I LOVED the art display. Really powerful”
“Really humble and thoughtful conversations. Refreshingly ‘real’ and too often these personal stories are lost in academia. More of this please”
Congratulations to Katy Turner, who won the feedback form raffle. Katy is a co-director of the Sexual Health Improvement Programme (SHIP) HIT and a Senior Lecturer in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at the University of Bristol.
Who said what?
