Bristol Health Partners 10th anniversary conference gets delegates moving 

Bristol Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre welcomed more than 100 delegates to our 10th anniversary conference on 4 October 2022 – and our first in-person conference since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Academics, clinicians, health and care managers, public contributors, and others from organisations across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, joined us at M Shed to reconnect, network and discuss ways we can improve health and care for people living in our region. 

Music and movement

Bath Aphasia Choir, who have links to our Stroke Health Integration Team (HIT), got proceedings underway with an uplifting performance, including a song they had written about their experiences as stoke survivors. 

They were followed by Lerato Dunn, a local Arts and Health Practitioner linked to our Active Lives HIT, who invited delegates to get moving for a ‘Dance and Wellbeing’ warmup activity.  

Speakers

This year, conference was chaired by public contributor, community activist and broadcaster Primrose Granville. She spoke about how her own experiences of health and care motivated her to speak up and get involved with the partnership. 

Our Director Professor David Wynick reflected on 10 years of Bristol Health Partners, highlighting the unique factors that have sustained us from the start, including our Health Integration Team (HIT) model, our committed partners and our dedication to public involvement.   

Watch the new Bristol Health Partners film, shown at conference:

Maria Kane, Chief Executive of North Bristol NHS Trust and our Chair, reviewed some of the year’s highlights, from the REACT exercise for frailty study being published in The Lancet, to the new initiatives being launched by communities to reduce HIV diagnosis, supported by our Sexual Health Improvement (SHIP) HIT.  

We were delighted to welcome guest speaker Professor Sir Stephen Powis, Medical Director for NHS England. He reflected on the importance of connecting scientific research with clinical health and care services, particularly through the lens of the pandemic, and why Academic Health Science Centres such as Bristol Health Partners are a crucial way to achieve this. Sir Stephen encouraged the partnership to keep building on our successes and work together to help create moments of history that improve people’s lives.  

Networking

Directors and public contributors from 15 HITs took the opportunity of being back together to host quickfire sessions for delegates to find out more about their work and explore opportunities to collaborate. 

We were also pleased to welcome colleagues from People in Health West of England, NIHR ARC West and the West of England Academic Health Science Network, to exhibit their work during the conference. 

In conversation

Our ‘in conversation’ sessions are a popular part of our conference programme, and this year’s was no exception. 

Julian Walker, R&D Director for Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, joined Primrose to speak with representatives from three HITs: Kidney Disease HIT public contributor Soumeya Boaucida, Sexual Health Improvement (SHIP) HIT director Jo Copping and Dementia HIT director Isobel Jones. They shared stories about what motivated them to become involved in their HITs, and how they overcame challenges in their own lives to achieve change.