Sarah May, IBMS Deputy Chief Executive, outlines the exciting new additions to Congress 2023 and reveals some of the speakers.
Welcome to the updated Congress programme with more lectures, more features and still time to book before the early booking discount ends on 30 June. We value the feedback we received from our delegates who attended in 2022 and hope that for 2023 we have managed to make the Congress experience even better, which appears to be the case as we have already taken a record number of bookings. Congress is recognised across the whole UK laboratory service as the key event to learn and experience laboratory medicine in the widest context. We hope you will like the new content we have added and that perhaps, if you have never been before, you will decide that this is the time you will join us at Congress.
The Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB) Laboratory Medicine Leadership Summit
For the first time ever, the ACB will be bringing a one-day Leadership Summit meeting to Congress. Many delegates will be familiar with the ACB Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine meetings, but this year it is being replaced with a new Leadership Summit hosted as a special feature within the IBMS Congress on Thursday 28 September. ACB members will be able to book at the same rate as IBMS member delegates and as an added benefit they will be able to book for any additional Congress days, still at the IBMS member rate. IBMS Congress delegates will be welcome to attend any, or all, of the Leadership Summit lectures as an additional Congress option, without having to make any booking changes. Find the full Laboratory Medicine Leadership Summit within the new Congress diary and on the website, and see the lecture programmes under the session themes of Developments in Artificial Intelligence, Laboratory Informatics and Impacts on Patient Care, The Future of Laboratory Medicine and The Journey Towards Net Zero in the Lab.
Opening Plenary
The Opening Plenary is the flagship programme of Congress held in the magnificent Hall 1 of the Birmingham ICC. This year we are delighted to welcome Maggie Throup, MP, and Chair of the diagnostics All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to speak about the work of the Diagnostics APPG, highlighting the value of diagnostics, promoting the diagnostic workforce and improving diagnostic services. Also speaking will be Professor Bola Owolabi, Director at National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement at NHS England (NHSE), on tackling health inequalities, based on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to these two high-level speakers will be Dr Sandi Deans, National Laboratory and Scientific Lead (Genomics) NHSE, speaking on precision medicine and its impact on health and healthcare delivery, and Dr Fiona Carragher FRCPath, Executive Director of Research and Influencing at the Alzheimer’s Society, speaking on the significant scientific breakthroughs, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease, and on the first disease-modifying treatment now approved in the US and the promise of a blood-based test.
Politics and pathology
First launched as a new feature in 2022, we are bringing back the Politics and Pathology programme on the afternoon of Monday 25 September. The programme will feature speakers from all four UK countries who will be discussing their respective approaches to their post-COVID recovery strategies alongside the issue of data quality and the reporting of pathology metrics, the progression of NHSE networks, digital investment and histopathology modernisation. Running simultaneously to the Politics and Pathology programme will be Education and Training, Quality Management and Molecular Pathology programmes, ensuring Monday offers a strong blend of complementary content.
Wellbeing Workshop
The Wellbeing Workshop is a new feature aimed particularly at managers and supervisors to help them to spot the signs when someone may not be coping and may need some extra help and support.
Laboratories can be a pressured environment and some people are better able to manage pressure than others. While mental health and wellbeing is an oft-discussed topic, it is not uncommon for individuals to try to hide the fact they are struggling, concerned that it may count negatively against them rather than asking for help. The Wellbeing Workshop will take place on Tuesday 26 September and will provide an opportunity to work with the facilitators and to learn from each other. In addition, a guided relaxation session will take place for 30 minutes at 8.15am on the Wednesday and Thursday to give the opportunity for some quiet time away from the noise and bustle of Congress. Everyone is welcome to come and recharge before the start of the programmes.
“This is just a taster of what will be in Congress 2023, with still more content to be added”
Biomedical Laboratory Support Staff programme
The Biomedical Laboratory Support Staff programme is now an important and well-established part of Congress. The range of topics and speakers on this programme reflect the growing significance of this section of our workforce and it is hoped that managers and budget holders will see the value of supporting their assistant and associate practitioners to attend this event. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive profession and our Congress offers a truly inclusive programme – from leadership and development to quality management, from apprenticeships to CPD – these are all issues that impact directly on laboratory support staff. These lectures are a complete package. Support staff delegates can attend this session at the special afternoon rate or can book a full Congress day and combine it with a programme of morning lectures.
This is just a taster of what will be in Congress 2023, with still more content to be added. In August we will be launching our free seminar programme, to which everyone is welcome, including those who are attending as exhibition visitors only. For all the most current information on speakers and topics, visit the Congress website at https://congress.ibms.org/congress-2023. Remember, the early booking discount is available until 30 June.
