Our Sixth Annual NIHR Imperial Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (PSTRC) Symposium was held on 29th November 2018, at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London.

We were honoured to welcome a diverse array of panellists and speakers, including Non-Executive Chair of NHS Improvement Baroness Dido Harding and NHS National Director of Patient Safety Dr Aidan Fowler, who each brought unique expertise and experience to the table. In addition, the annual event drew together Directors from each of the three PSTRCs, providing the opportunity to explore avenues for collaboration and diffuse lessons from successes.

Technology and digital security were key focus points of 2018’s event, welcoming guests such as security start-up founder Cal Leeming to discuss the pernicious issue of data hacking. Cal was joined by other experts in the world of digital healthcare world including DeepMind’s Director of Engineering Andrew Eland, and NHS Digital’s CEO Sarah Wilkinson.

Through a series of impassioned talks and engaging panel discussions, the event tackled challenging questions such as how to harness the potential of technology by enabling staff to be better at what they do, and how to boost investment in IT infrastructure to keep health data safe.

In addition to taking on tech, the Symposium addressed the important subject of involvement in healthcare. Speakers were unanimously in agreement that patient empowerment is necessary to bring about positive changes to patient safety, but that this goal could only be achieved once barriers to involvement are first identified and cleared.

You can read more about how we’re striving to keep patients at the heart of our work on our website here.