Join us for the Better Health & Care Summit, a half-day event exploring how we can scale inclusive, sustainable and community-based approaches to health and care.

This year will spotlight the careforce, frugal innovation and community themes of the Better Health & Care Hub, with discussions on:

• The 10-Year NHS Plan and what it means for health and care

• New polling insights on the experiences and needs of informal carers

• Project showcases featuring creative research and solutions from across King’s

Expect an interactive agenda with expert panels, roundtable discussions and a networking reception on the Coin Street rooftop (weather permitting). Further programme details will be published shortly.

Register here

 

Who should attend?

This event is open to all but will be of most interest to researchers, practitioners, policymakers, community partners and those interested in improving and shaping the future of health and care. Whether you’re new to the Hub or already connected, this is a great opportunity to learn more and get involved.

 

Agenda

View full agenda and speakers here.

1 pm - Arrival & networking lunch

1.45 pm - Welcome

Professor Irene Higginson OBE, Director of Better Health & Care Hub and Professor of Palliative Care & Policy, delivers opening remarks.

1.55 pm - Opening plenary

Professor Derek Tracy, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director for Psychological Professions, South London and Maudsley NHS joins us to spark discussion on inclusion, co-production and how culture shapes care and outcomes.

2.10 pm - Fit for the Future: Delivering the NHS England 10-Year Health Plan

Exploring how the Hub’s work on careforce, frugal innovation and community can make the NHS vision a reality.

With expert input from:

• Dr Clare Ellis-Smith, Senior Lecturer in Palliative Care
• Professor Vibhu Paudyal, Professor of Health Services Research and Inequalities
• Dr Kimberley Whitehead, Senior Lecturer (Research and Teaching)

3.10 pm - Refreshment break

3.25 pm - Fit for the Future (continued)

3.55 pm - Educating our future health and care leaders

Dr Julian Stribling, Senior Lecturer and MSc Healthcare Management Programme Lead, introduces King’s new MSc designed to equip future leaders with the skills our health and care systems need.

4.10 pm - Careforce in conversation: Recognising and enabling the future of care

Charles Alexander CBE, Chairman of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust chairs this dialogue, bringing together different perspectives on valuing the wider careforce.

With expert input from:

• Professor Annette Boaz, Professor of Health and Social Care and Co-Director for the Better Health & Care Hub
• Professor Catherine Evans, Interim Director of Cicely Saunders Institute and Professor of Palliative Care
• Neil Kennett-Brown, Programme Director, System Sustainability, NHS South East London Integrated Care Board
• Professor Glenn Robert, Vice Dean (Research & Impact) and Co-Director for the Better Health & Care Hub

5.20 pm - Reflections and closing

5.30 pm - Networking reception

 

About the Better Health & Care Hub

The Better Health & Care Hub is a world-leading, interdisciplinary hub for research and education at King's College London, dedicated to transforming health and care on a global scale. It focuses on improving care and equity through three core themes:

1. Careforce: Expanding the definition of the care workforce to include people providing self-care, informal and unpaid carers, and volunteers. This theme explores the roles these groups play in care delivery, the skills and support they need and how we might bridge professional and voluntary boundaries to create more integrated, skills-based approaches.
2. Frugal innovation: Supporting research into affordable, practical and scalable solutions that improve care without adding cost to the stretched systems.
3. Communities: Placing lived experience at the centre by partnering with communities in the design and delivery of care. This includes co-producing solutions, reducing inequities and measuring what really matters to people: quality of life and wellbeing.

Led by the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, in collaboration with the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, and bolstered by strategic partnerships with NHS, social care, community, patient-led, charitable and international organisations, our hub harnesses interdisciplinary expertise.

Together, we aim to accelerate high-quality growth in research, education and impact all focused on improving the quality, equality and value of health and care worldwide.