Major health conference discusses impact of the Darzi report for Medway

More than 80 leading professionals from the fields of healthcare and higher education met to discuss a ten-year strategy for improving standards of health and social care services in Medway.

The conference, entitled Darzi - A High Quality Workforce, was organised by NHS Medway and Medway NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with the University of Kent's Centre for Work and Learning. It took place at Kent's Medway campus on 19 January.

Ann Keen MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, outlined her vision for the NHS in the coming decade during her address to the conference. The health service would achieve high-quality levels of patient care through recruiting, and retaining, a motivated and highly-skilled workforce, and by increased consultation with both staff and the public, she said.

The purpose of the conference was to discuss the implications of the national review of the NHS undertaken by life peer Baron Darzi of Denham in 2007 and, in particular, what impact it will have on the Medway region. In his report, High Quality Care For All, Darzi stated that improvements in patient care would come about if the NHS was clinically led, more patient-centred and had greater accountability at a local level.

Other conference speakers included Gillingham and Rainham MP Paul Clark, also Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport; Marion Dinwoodie, Chief Executive for NHS Medway; Professor Clare Mackie, Pro Vice-Chancellor for the University of Kent and former Head of Medway School of Pharmacy; Cheryl Lee, HR Director for Medway NHS Foundation Trust; and Cheryl Clements, HR Director for NHS Medway.

The conference - which included practical workshop sessions - was chaired by Vernon Hull, Chairman of Medway Maritime Hospital Trust.

The event attracted directors, heads of service, clinicians and nursing leads from a range of organisations including Kent County Council, the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority, Medway Maritime Hospital and Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership.

Cathy Hull, Head of the University of Kent's Centre for Work and Learning, based at the Medway campus, said that developing the highest quality workforce could only be achieved through a close working partnership between health and social care employers and learning providers. 'This conference demonstrated the tremendous potential that exists in Medway and will, I'm sure, lead to a whole range of exciting initiatives,' she said.

Contact: N.J.Ellwood@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 3:32pm 20 January 2009