South West Connect Conference 2026

South West Connect 2026

Sandy Park Conference Centre, Exeter (12 May)

 

The South West Connect Conference is a learning and development event and is the largest face to face event for the network. The conference brings together digital health and care colleagues from across the region.

The programme is designed as a chance for you to meet, network and connect with new and old colleagues, hearing from both regional and national leaders in digital health and care as well as case studies in best practice.  

The conference is the largest face to face event for the network. It brings together 200+ digital health and care colleagues from across the region including CNIO, CCIO and digital transformation leads to network and connect and to hear from regional and national leaders in digital health and care as well as case studies in best practice.

 

Full conference programme - Tuesday 12 May

 

08:15: Registration, exhibition, and refreshments

09:00: A welcome from the network co-chairs

• Mel De Witt, Chief Clinical Information Officer – Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals, North Bristol NHS Trust
• Laura Whitmore,Head of Digital Change and Skills Development, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

 

09:05: An update on the NHS App

• Tim Clarke, Deputy Director, Digital Citizen, NHS England

This session will provide an overview of the planned developments for the NHS App and its long‑term direction. Tim will outline how the app is expected to evolve and how this aligns with the priorities set out in the NHS 10‑Year Plan. Attendees will gain insight into current thinking around the app’s future role in supporting patient access and digital services across the system.

09:50: Electronic Patient Records at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust

• Dr Joanne Watson, Chief medical information officer
• Katrina Stockton, SME and Super User Programme Lead
• Dr Annabel Fox, Resident Doctor and Super User

This session will share practical insights from Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust’s Electronic Patient Record (EPR) journey, grounded in the collaborative One Devon approach. Dr Joanne Watson, Katrina Stockton and Dr Annabel Fox will offer perspectives from clinical leadership, operational delivery and frontline medical practice, highlighting the value of working as one team across clinical, operational and digital colleagues. The session will explore lessons learned from implementation, what has worked well, challenges encountered, and how engaging clinicians – including super users – has supported adoption and change. Attendees at any stage of their EPR journey will take away transferable learning, best practice tips and reflections from a medic’s point of view to help inform local rollout and optimisation.

10:30: Refreshments and networking

11:00: An update from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

• Henry Ramsay, AI for Local Growth Lead, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Henry Ramsay will be joining us to share insights from his work on AI for Local Growth at DSIT. His session will explore how AI driven local growth initiatives are creating new opportunities across regions — with particular relevance to health and care. Expect practical examples, strategic reflections, and a forward looking view of how local growth policy can empower digital transformation across the NHS and wider public services.

11:45: South West Snapshots

A. Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust – Health and Care Video Library

• Matt Halkes, Consultant Anaesthetist, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust

Providing patients with the digital tools that empower them to self-manage, navigate pathways of care and monitor their health is key to achieving the core NHS just strategic objectives of delivering care closer to home and shifting to proactive prevention. This snapshot will showcase how Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, working in partnership with health and care innovations Ltd, has deployed the Health and Care Video Library and the multi-condition CONNECTPlus app. Now in use in over 30 Trusts and ICB's across the UK these platforms have consistently reduced demand, released staff capacity and enhanced patient experience. 

B. University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust – The Smart Ward Project

• Claudia Brown, Smart Buildings Solutions Architect, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

University Hospitals Plymouth are currently leading a Smart Ward Project across Healthcare of the Elderly and Paediatrics, focused on developing smarter, more dynamic healthcare environments that enhance patient recovery and improve staff safety. The project involves trialling a range of innovative solutions, including indoor air quality monitoring with sensors and purifiers, digital play kiosks and therapy boxes, virtual windows, smart lighting, and predictive AI fall sensors — with future developments planned such as wearable technology for inpatient vitals. Each solution is undergoing a comprehensive service evaluation, with baseline and post-implementation data being analysed in collaboration with the University of Plymouth. A key objective of the project is to share learnings and innovations with other NHS Trusts to help advance digital healthcare environments.

C. Royal United Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Homegrown App Development within Hospital Pharmacy

• James Scott, Associate Director of Pharmacy – Clinical Services, Royal United Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

This session will explore innovative homegrown app development within hospital pharmacy. James Scott has created practical tools ranging from medicine ordering solutions to quality management systems and staff revalidation portals. These resources, available free to most NHS.net users showcase how simple, cost-effective digital tools can transform everyday workflows.

D. North Bristol NHS Trust - Adoption of digital change

• Rebecca Saunders, Digital Matron for Adoption and Transformation, North Bristol NHS Trust.

This session will look at North Bristol’s approach to digital adoption, with a particular focus on the Digital Nurse Fellows programme. The programme has improved staff confidence and capability in using digital systems, reduced workarounds, and supported safer, more efficient clinical workflows. 

12:45: Lunch, exhibition and networking

13:45: Workshop sessions (slot 1):

1a: Digital Professions

• Rebecca Campbell, Senior Programme Manager, Digital Profession, NHS England

This workshop explores the key priorities for the Digital Profession across the NHS, alongside recent developments in national competency frameworks, job descriptions and professional body membership. It will highlight how these tools are supporting professionalisation, improving consistency, and strengthening digital workforce capability.

1b: Clinical Safety and AI: Session targeted at CSOs (and those in the CSO special interest group)

• Lynne Avrell, Chief Nursing Information Officer, Dorset County Hospital
• Steve Roche, Clinical Services Programme Lead: Digital Clinical Safety, NHS South, Central and West.

1c: Remembering the Human in AI in Primary Care

• Gemma Wright, Associate Director of Culture, Strategy & Learning, Venn Health

As AI becomes embedded in primary care, this session explores why success depends as much on leadership, human relationships and communication as on technology. While AI promises efficiency and scale, it can erode trust, professional confidence and patient dignity if introduced without clarity and care. The talk considers the impact of AI on system leaders, frontline staff and patients, highlighting the risks of impersonal, efficiency‑only approaches and the importance of transparency and trust. It concludes with an optimistic vision that when AI is culturally designed and focused, implemented and communicated well by strong inclusive leaders, it can support judgement and help primary care feel more human, not less.

 

1d: Experience Meets Best Practice

• Mark Basham, Co-Founder and CEO, HIT Global Ltd
• Katrina Macdermid, Co-Founder and Designer, HIT Global Ltd

Healthcare is built around people — patients, clinicians, and staff. But the IT experiences that underpin this vital work can sometimes miss that human emphasis. In this session, we’ll explore how Humanising IT™ helps healthcare organisations strengthen their IT services to better support those who deliver care. Drawing on lessons from the UK NHS and international healthcare partners, Mark will introduce the Humanising IT™ Double Diamond Framework (HIT DDF™).  This framework helps prevent common IT experience failure points by ensuring that human needs remain at the centre of every stage of service design and delivery. Through interactive discussion and group exercises, we’ll bring Humanising IT™ to life — connecting theory to practice and showing how healthcare teams can embed human centred approaches into their daily IT operations.

By the end of this one-hour workshop, participants will:

• Gain an interactive overview of Humanising IT™, grounded in real healthcare case studies from the NHS and beyond.
• Understand the HIT DDF™ framework and how it prevents common IT experience failure points.
• Participate in group exercises that translate Humanising IT™ principles into practical healthcare scenarios.
• Engage in an open Q&A to explore how these ideas can be applied in their own organizations.

14:30: Refreshments and networking

15:00: Workshop sessions (slot 2):

 

2a: An introduction to Clinical Safety

• Lynne Avrell, Chief Nursing Information Officer, Dorset County Hospital
• Steve Roche, Clinical Services Programme Lead: Digital Clinical Safety, NHS South, Central and West.

2b: Towards Digital Excellence Standards

• Christine Banks, National Digital Skills Development Lead, Skills Development Network

In this workshop, Christine Banks, National Digital Skills Development Lead, will talk about the Towards Excellence in Digital Standards Accreditation Scheme and explain what it is, what the benefits are of becoming accredited and how organisations can start the journey towards accreditation. The session is aimed at senior leaders who want to accredit their teams as well as organisational DSD leads who want to find out more.

2c: Remembering the Human in AI in Primary Care (repeated session)

• Gemma Wright, Associate Director of Culture, Strategy & Learning, Venn Health

As AI becomes embedded in primary care, this session explores why success depends as much on leadership, human relationships and communication as on technology. While AI promises efficiency and scale, it can erode trust, professional confidence and patient dignity if introduced without clarity and care. The talk considers the impact of AI on system leaders, frontline staff and patients, highlighting the risks of impersonal, efficiency‑only approaches and the importance of transparency and trust. It concludes with an optimistic vision that when AI is culturally designed and focused, implemented and communicated well by strong inclusive leaders, it can support judgement and help primary care feel more human, not less.

2d: Digital Literacy Panel Session

• Laura Whitmore,Head of Digital Change and Skills Development, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,
• Rebecca Saunders, Digital Matron for Adoption and Transformation, North Bristol NHS Trust.

15:45: Inspirational Speaker

• Simon Wheatcroft, Blind Ultra Runner & Inspirational Speaker

Tech pioneer, endurance runner and award-winning educator, Simon Wheatcroft, refuses to let blindness hold him back. Whether he is competing in ultra-marathons, climbing mountains or teaching students in the classroom., he combines the use of technology and his fundamental belief and trust in his own abilities and body to overcome what many would consider insurmountable barriers and achieve his goals. Simon's unique blend of ferocious drive, along with his background in technology and psychology, enables him to push the boundaries of possibility and challenge the audience to explore what they can achieve.

16:30: Chairs’ closing comments

• Laura Whitmore,Head of Digital Change and Skills Development, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust