Conference

Staff experience in the NHS: Navigating challenges and change together

Name: Staff experience in the NHS: Navigating challenges and change together
Start: 2025-11-18
End: 2025-11-18

Our popular virtual conference will look at how we can sustain staff experience against a challenging and complex NHS backdrop.

Book your free place

General information

Time: 18 November 2025 08:15 - 16:00 GMT
Add to calendar: Google iCal
Audience: Open to all

Speakers

Dr Ronke Akerele
National Director of Staff Experience and Engagement, NHS England
Samantha Allen
Chief Executive, North East and North Cumbria ICB
Kerry Hibberd
Director of Insight and Feedback, IQVIA
Jane Keep
Head of Staff Experience, University College London Hospital NHS FT
Alan Lofthouse
Deputy Head of Health, UNISON
Elizabeth Nyawade
Chief People Officer, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Rebecca Patel
Associate Director, Health, Safety and Wellbeing, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton
Clare Ridout
HR Business Partner, Evelina London
Myron E Rogers
Author, Speaker and Consultant
Cheryl Samuels
People and Culture Director, Evelina London
Clare Teeney
Chief People Officer, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Ben Towell
Founder, Ben Towell Consultancy Ltd
Lisa Whitehouse
Associate Director of Culture and Staff Experience, Midlands Partnership University NHS FT
Jennifer Gardner
Assistant Director, Development and Employment NHS Employers
Danny Mortimer
Chief Executive NHS Employers
Rebecca Smith
Director of System and Social Partnership NHS Employers
Matthew Taylor
Chief Executive, NHS Confederation
Carly Telford
Assistant Director (Do OD), NHS Employers
Caroline Waterfield
Director of Development and Employment NHS Employers

Our conference is now fully booked.

If you would like to be added to the waiting list, please email us.

Taking place on 18 November, our virtual conference will bring together professionals in health and wellbeing, staff experience and staff engagement. During the day, through panel discussions, breakout sessions, keynote speeches and case studies, we will explore how to navigate challenges and change together to maintain excellent staff experience outcomes for your teams.

We have an exciting agenda with inspiring and expert speakers exploring a number of different topics.

Sustaining staff experience against a challenging and complex NHS backdrop so our teams stay and thrive.

Delivering bold transformational action, leading change through uncertainty and navigate challenging times together.

Taking a deep dive into the Ten Year Health Plan – what are the implications, challenges and opportunities for staff experience?

Delegates attending the conference will:

join subject experts for mainstage keynotes and interactive breakout sessions with space for discussion and Q&A

spend time with those leading and innovative NHS organisations who are demonstrating good practice with practical tools, insights and strategies to strengthen local implementation

leave feeling inspired, energised and connected.

Accessibility

We are committed to hosting an inclusive and accessible event that enables everyone to attend and engage fully. Please get in touch if you have any additional requirements before attending.

Sponsorship opportunities

If you are interested in becoming an event partner or supporter, please contact ross.edwards@nhsconfed.org to explore opportunities.

Join the waiting list

This event is fully booked, if you would like to be added to the waiting list please email eventbookings@nhsconfed.org.

Your registration

Our annual conference is fully booked. We have a waiting list of colleagues hoping to attend. If for any reason you cannot use your place, please do let the team know as soon as possible by emailing eventbookings@nhsconfed.org. We can ensure your place is passed to a colleague on the waiting list.

Agenda

8.15am - Breakfast session

Join IQVIA for this interactive breakfast session to explore how workforce leaders can harness insights from the NHS Staff Survey to drive meaningful and sustainable transformation. Anchored in the ambitions of the ten-year health plan, Kerry Hibberd, Director of Insight and Feedback, IQVIA and Clare Teeney, Chief People Officer, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust will examine the conditions for change that help teams thrive, adapt and lead with compassion. Join the discussion and see how staff experience data can support inclusive leadership, shape modern workforce models and build capabilities NHS teams will need to embrace change with confidence.

9.30am - Conference opens

Jen Gardner, Assistant Director, NHS Employers will open conference and share a video from Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Cheryl Samuels, People and Culture Director, Evelina London (Guys and St. Thomas Trust) and Personnel Today Awards 2025 finalist is joined by HR Business Partner Clare Ridout to talk about Evelina London’s culture change journey, including their award-nominated initiative that has strengthened engagement, widened equitable access, and built a fairer, more inclusive approach to flexibility. This is a chance to hear first-hand how leadership, strategy, and lived values can come together to create modern ways of working that work for everyone.
Hear from Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, NHS Confederation and Danny Mortimer, Chief Executive, NHS Employers who were involved in shaping the recently published ten-year health plan. Join them in a panel with Caroline Waterfield, Director of Development and Employment, NHS Employers and Dr Ronke Akerele, National Director, Staff Experience and Engagement, NHS England to discuss the plan and the implications, challenges and opportunities for staff experience.

11.30-11.45am - Break

In this session, Jane Keep, Head of Staff Experience, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will share how her trust was able to maintain and sustain excellent staff experience outcomes against a challenging and complex NHS backdrop so that teams stay and thrive.

This short wellbeing session with Ben Towell, award winning employee wellness specialist offers a chance to pause, reconnect and recharge. It’s designed to help attendees feel seen in the emotional demands of supporting others, through a simple, practical tool for self-care. Join Ben and feel uplifted and re-energised for the afternoon ahead.

12.15-1.15pm - Lunch

1.15-2pm - Breakout sessions round one

In this session Amy Oakes, Head of Learning and Organisational Development, Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust shares how her organisation created a clear, centralised employee value proposition (EVP) brochure to showcase its full employment offer; boosting staff awareness, onboarding, and engagement. Amy will also deep dive into the role of financial wellbeing in shaping a meaningful employment offer. Olivia Farley, Reward Programme Manager, NHS Employers will conclude the session by signposting attendees to NHS Employers resources, giving them practical tools to develop and communicate their own EVP.
In this session Carly Telford, Assistant Director, NHS Employers - Do OD talks about empowering staff experience professionals to lead change through practical OD tools and personal insight. This session is framed around an adaptive leadership model, exploring how to shift mindsets, embed staff experience and build expertise as agents of change.
Making effective use of staff feedback is a key part of an overall approach to improving staff experience. Steven Weeks, Programme Lead, Staff Engagement, NHS Employers, speaks to Lisa Whitehouse, Associate Director of Culture and Staff Experience, Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust about how her trust has implemented innovative ideas to make the most of feedback to improve the experience of both staff and patients.

2.-2.15pm - Break

2.15-3pm - Breakout sessions round two

Rebecca Patel, Associate Director Health, Safety and Wellbeing at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton
Violence against staff remains a major issue in the NHS. In this session, delivered in association with the Social Partnership Forum, Alan Lofthouse, Chair of the Violence Reduction Sub Group of the Social Partnership Forum, and Acting Deputy Head of Health, UNISON Health Group and Rebecca Smith, Director of System and Social Partnership, NHS Employers will talk about work that that has been undertaken on tackling violence at national level in partnership with NHS unions, share ideas from trusts and outline next steps on this important issue.

In this keynote speech hear from Myron Rogers a renowned and leading expert, author and consultant on systems change and leadership development. Myron will share his expert insights and offer solutions on how we can collectively deliver bold transformational action to support NHS staff experience, whilst navigating uncertainty and challenging times. Elizabeth Nyawade, Chief of People and Culture, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and Samantha Allen, Chief Executive, North East and North Cumbria ICB will join Myron in a panel discussion to reflect on these challenges and how to make sustainable change a reality.