On the 11th October, we hosted our first 'Leading Research and Innovation through Collaboration' conference. 90 colleagues from WYAAT's six partner hospitals attended the event, representing doctors, nurses, midwives, AHPs, pharmacists, and healthcare science colleagues who either lead or actively participate in research, innovation, and quality improvement.

The day largely composed of six panel sessions, chaired and led by WYAAT, industry, and academia colleagues, focusing on different aspects of NHS research, innovation, and improvement. Main topics of discussion included how we expand cross-organisational research opportunities, scale innovations, include underrepresented communities in research, and work together to problem solve.

Keynote speeches were also delivered by Richard Stubbs, Chair of the Health Innovation Network and Chief Executive of Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, and Steve Russell, Chief Delivery Officer for NHS England. The event was opened and closed by Professor Phil Wood, Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for WYAAT Research and Innovation and Chief Executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT).

The full programme and photos from the day are available on the conference webpage.

Lucy Cole, WYAAT Director, said: “It was inspiring to hear about the fantastic work already happening across our hospitals and we hope the outputs from this conference will help us build on these achievements and adopt successful initiatives across WYAAT.”

Dr Sal Uka, WYAAT Medical Lead, commented: “The conference was a great launch to our collaborative approach to research, innovation, and improvement. The panel sessions in particular were thought-provoking, generating lots of discussion and some great ideas for us to take forward.

“Feedback from attendees provided us with practical actions to implement, to ensure that we widen research opportunities for both patients and staff. Additionally, it also showed us how we, as WYAAT, can use our influence across West Yorkshire and Harrogate, and beyond.”

The conference received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with 100% of attendees who submitted feedback declaring they would attend a future research event. Looking ahead, we plan to build on this success and look forward to hosting the next conference in 2025.