Festival of Health explored the big issues 10-11 Oct

The Festival of Health explored the big issues facing the NHS and health today, on 10-11 October at the Watershed in Bristol. The event was organised by Bristol Health Partners and the Festival of Ideas.

The NHS is one of the great success stories of the past 70 years bringing free treatment and better health to millions. But we also know that the NHS – and all of us – face real challenges. These challenges provoke many questions. How does the NHS work? Do we have a caring society? Should we focus more on prevention of illness through better living and creating healthier cities? How should we use technology? This series opened up these and other discussions and explored the current – and potential future – shape and state of our health and care system.

Session 1: The Health Care System Now

How does the health and care system work?

The health and care system is a massive and complex network, often difficult to understand and changing quickly – yet it touches all our lives. This session demystified this and explained in simple terms how the system that serves us all actually works.

Speakers for this session:

• Dr Martin Jones, Clinical Chair of Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group
• Andrea Young, Chief Executive of North Bristol Trust
• Linda Prosser, Director of Commissioning, NHS England Area Team
• Chair: David Relph, Director of Bristol Health Partners and Head of Strategy at University Hospitals Bristol

Listen to the audio recording of ‘How does the health and care system work?’

How do we ensure consistently high quality, safe services?

Safety is an absolute requirement in the delivery of health and care – and the highest levels of quality are a consistently sought. Professional regulators of the hospital system, clinicians and others representing the voices of patients, debated the key issues associated with these challenges.

Speakers for this session include:

• Professor Mike Richards CBE, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Care Quality Commission
• Dr Neil Bacon, Founder of iwantgreatcare.org
• Emma Redfern, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
• Pat Foster, General Manager, Healthwatch Bristol
• Chair: Dr Sean O’Kelly, Medical Director UHBristol

Listen to the audio recording of ‘How do we ensure consistently high quality, safe services?’

Session 2: Healthy Cities and Communities

What is a Healthy City and what are Healthy Communities?

A ‘happy and healthy city’ is the key theme of Bristol’s year as the European Green Capital in 2015 – but the health of a city or region depends on more than the specific healthcare institutions within it. Contributors from public health, the city council and Bristol’s Green Capital project for 2015 discuss what ‘healthy city and communities’ mean in practice, including how the systems that shape the city and its functions can promote or undermine health.

Speakers for this session include:

• George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol and co-chair of Bristol Health & Wellbeing Board
• Liz Zeidler, Co-founder and director of Happy City and Chair of the Bristol Green Capital Partnership
• Dr Sohail Bhatti, Joint Director of Public Health, Bristol City Council
• Chair: Marcus Grant, Associate Professor of Healthy Urban Environments at UWE, and Deputy Director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Healthy Urban Environments

Listen to the audio recording of ‘What is a Healthy City and what are Healthy Communities?’

How do we support mental as well as physical health?

One in four of us will experience mental health problems in the coming year. The cost of poor mental health to individuals, their families and society as a whole is significant yet the response to this challenge focuses on the traditional, or formal, health and care system; institutions that are visible. However, the system itself relies on a large amount of other resources, most notably networks in communities and families and the growing body of individual carers whose work can often go unrecognised. How can these formal and informal resources come together and contribute to a caring society that recognises and supports vulnerability?’

Speakers for this session include:

• Dr James Eldred, Clinical Director, Bristol Mental Health Services
• Dr Tim Williams, Clinical Director, Specialised Mental Health Services
• Marvin Rees, Partnership and System Lead, Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership
• Carol Metters, Director at Missing Link Housing
• Chair: Tara Mistry, Lay Member for Patient Public Involvement NHS Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group

Listen to the audio recording of ‘How do we support mental as well as physical health?’

Do we have a caring society?

The health and care system tends to be defined by the institutions that are visible within the system – but the system itself relies on a large amount of other resources, most notably networks in communities and families and the growing body of individual carers whose work can often go unacknowledged. How do these contribute to a caring society? Health managers, nurses and carers will discuss these challenging issues.

Speakers for this session include:

• Helen Morgan, Deputy Chief Nurse, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UHBristol)
• Lou Paget, Vice-Chair of Bristol Parent Carers
• Jeremy Leighton, Vice Chairman of Bristol Carers Centre
• Julia Clarke, Chief Executive, Bristol Community Health
• Chair: Tony Watkin, Patient Experience Lead, UHBristol

Listen to the audio recording of ‘Do we have a caring society?’

Session 3: Change and Vision for the Health Care System

Where is change in the health and care system going to come from and what sort of system do we want in our city region?

Change has been a consistent feature of the health and care system. Factors that could shape change over the next 10 years will include changes to the structure of the NHS, changes to the technology that underpins the delivery of services and public access to those services and changes to the level of patient and public involvement in the design and delivery of health services. Will future funding be sufficient to meet the apparently ever-increasing demand? Are there alternative models and approaches? Financial consultants, senior health managers and other commentators will discuss the options we face.

Speakers for this session include:

• Sir Ron Kerr, Chief Executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust
• Jonathan Hale, Partner, GE Healthcare Finnamore
• Karin Smyth, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Bristol
• Dr Jon Bloor, Founder and Medical Director DocCom
• Chair: Matthew Hill, BBC Health Correspondent

Listen to the audio recording of ‘Where is change in the health and care system going to come from and what sort of system do we want in our city region?’