Examples of successful submissions from 2026
Below are examples of successful submissions to the 2026 open call, shared as they were submitted. Use them as a guide to the level of detail and clarity we are looking for.
Policy discussions
Audience of 200-300 people in Charter rooms
- Devolution: An Unfinished Revolution
- The future or the end of primary care?
- Unlocking productivity in mental health care: from insight to impact
Example 1: Devolution: an unfinished revolution
Session title – What will you call your session?
Devolution: an unfinished revolution
Session summary – this will appear as the session description on the public agenda
The devolution agenda continues to shape local governance and leadership across England, but the picture is far from complete. While some areas have had a directly elected mayor for over a decade, others will be having their first elections in the coming years, and several remain without the prospect of a devolution deal at all.
What is clear is that mayors and strategic authorities are and will be key partners for the NHS, holding a range of powers over the social determinants of health.
This session will examine the evolving landscape of English devolution, highlighting the differing levels of maturity, powers and leadership across strategic authorities. It will look at how delivering on strategic commissioning, neighbourhood health and the broader prevention agenda will explicitly require ICB and NHS leaders to work with this relatively new form of sub-regional democracy. Similarly, for those areas without mayors, now is the time to influence and help lay down the tracks for a successful future partnership.
Learning objectives
- Understand the different stages and models of devolution across England, including variations in maturity, powers, and leadership.
- Explore how directly elected mayors are becoming increasingly influential in shaping local priorities, supporting public services, and driving place‑based improvement.
- Examine how local context – population size, rurality, geography, and institutional history – shapes each area's devolution journey and contributes to variation.
Target audience
NHS leaders keen to learn more about the variation in devolution and how different areas have approached collaboration / prepared to collaborate with mayors.
How do you plan to run your session?
A panel session, but with audience interaction via polls. This could include gauging the audience's optimism regarding devolution, what they see as the greatest challenge and opportunity presented by it. The panellists will then respond.
Example 2: The future or the end of primary care?
Session title – What will you call your session?
The future or the end of primary care?
Session summary – this will appear as the session description on the public agenda
Primary care is the front door of the NHS, caring for patients in their community and connecting them to the wider health and care system. In recent years, a shift towards at-scale and neighbourhood working has generated many questions about the future of the sector.
One year on from the 10 Year Health Plan's commitment to new neighbourhood contracts, members of The NHS Alliance come together to explore the role of primary care in a neighbourhood health model and discuss whether this is the end of primary care as we know it.
This session will allow members to explore the more provocative questions which are being asked by members and policy makers about the relevance and future of primary care in the shift to neighbourhood working.
Learning objectives
- Explore different models for PC delivering neighbourhood health.
- Define the role of primary care in neighbourhood models.
- Attendees should leave with an understanding of what PC needs from SNP and MNP working.
Target audience
Out of hospital providers operating in a neighbourhood model, ICB DPCs, organisation leads interested in taking on an MNP contract.
How do you plan to run your session?
- The session will be a panel discussion, facilitated by the chair, with the speakers working through 3 key questions:
- What changes for primary care in a neighbourhood model?
- Does an integrated neighbourhood workforce have a positive or negative effect on individual providers and sector identity?
- What should be preserved from smaller scale models to support neighbourhood level success?
- These 3 questions will also be posed to the audience, via Slido, with their input informing part of the conversation.
- Final 5-10 mins for Q+A with the audience
Example 3: Unlocking productivity in mental health care: from insight to impact
Session title – What will you call your session?
Unlocking productivity in mental health care: from insight to impact
Session summary – this will appear as the session description on the public agenda
What does productivity really mean in mental health care and how can improving it deliver better outcomes for patients and staff?
This session will explore this national priority area and aim to build a shared understanding of productivity for mental health providers and services.
The session will showcase examples where productivity improvements have led to measurable returns on investment, supported by data and real-world case studies. Leaders will also hear good practice approaches from organisations that have successfully enhanced productivity, creating tangible benefits for both the workforce and the people they serve.
Join this session to gain actionable insights and strategies that can help you lead productivity improvements with confidence and clarity.
Learning objectives
- Building understanding of what productivity is in mental health care
- Showcasing where improving productivity has led to measurable returns on investment, highlighting data and examples of this
- Share good practice examples of how organisations are approaching and improving productivity in their organisation and services to have tangible benefits for patients and the workforce
Target audience
NHS leaders working in Mental Health Trusts and Integrated Care Systems interested in finance and productivity, this will likely include COOs, CFOs, Strategy and Transformation Directors and Clinical Directors
How do you plan to run your session?
- Welcome and session overview - Chair (5 mins)
- What is productivity and why does it matter to mental health providers? - Dr Derek Tracey (5 mins)
- Productivity – the patient perspective - Jacob Lant (5 mins)
- Case study: our productivity journey in Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust - Ramona Duguid (5 mins)
- Panel discussion / Q&A - 15 mins
- Chair's wrap up and close - 5 mins
Good practice sharing sessions
Audience of ~130 in learning theatres
- Taking the best to the rest: spreading the enablers of neighbourhood health
- Lessons in prevention: what the healthcare sector can learn from the HIV Action Plan
Example 1: Taking the best to the rest: spreading the enablers of neighbourhood health
Session title – What will you call your session?
Taking the best to the rest: spreading the enablers of neighbourhood health
Session summary – this will appear as the session description on the public agenda
Neighbourhood health models are delivering better access, stronger prevention and more joined‑up care, but spread is uneven and many places struggle to create the conditions that allow neighbourhood teams to thrive. This session explores the critical enablers that consistently underpin successful neighbourhood health: finance, estates, governance, workforce, digital, data and leadership.
Through practical examples, system‑level insights, and interactive discussion, delegates will learn how to unlock these enablers in their own context. The session focuses on what it really takes to move from isolated pockets of excellence to a consistent, system‑wide neighbourhood model that improves outcomes and reduces pressure across the NHS.
Learning objectives
- Understand how finance, workforce, estates, and digital each contribute to effective neighbourhood‑level care.
- Recognise the interdependencies between these enablers and how they shape neighbourhood team capability.
- Explore practical strategies for removing barriers and creating the right conditions for spread.
- Identify examples of good practice that can be adapted and adopted across different localities.
- Develop a clear set of next steps to strengthen these enablers within their own ICS or place.
Target audience
- ICS and place‑based leaders
- Primary care and neighbourhood team leads
- Community health, social care, and VCSE partners
- Directors of finance, digital, estates, and workforce
- Transformation and population health teams
- Anyone involved in integrated neighbourhood working
How do you plan to run your session?
- Welcome and scene‑setting (5 minutes)
- Why neighbourhood health matters
- What we've learned from high‑performing neighbourhoods
- The case for focusing on four enablers
- The four enablers: what good looks like (20 minutes) – a rapid, high‑impact overview:
- Finance: flexible, aligned funding; investment in prevention and MDT working
- Workforce: multidisciplinary teams with shared purpose; skill‑mix innovation and leadership support
- Estates: co‑located, community‑based spaces; estate planning aligned to neighbourhood footprints
- Digital: shared care records and interoperable tools; neighbourhood‑level data for proactive care
- Case spotlights: "Taking the best to the rest" (10 minutes) – two or three short examples of neighbourhoods that have successfully aligned the enablers
- Focus on how they did it and what others can adopt
- Scaling the enablers across a system (15 minutes)
- How ICSs can create enabling conditions
- Governance and accountability that support neighbourhood autonomy
- Overcoming common barriers (siloed budgets, workforce shortages, estate constraints, digital fragmentation)
- Practical frameworks for spread and adoption
- Closing and call for action (7 minutes)
- Key takeaways
- Opportunity for delegates to identify their biggest local barrier
- Capture of insights for system learning
Example 2: Lessons in prevention: what the healthcare sector can learn from the HIV Action Plan
Session title – What will you call your session?
Lessons in prevention: what the healthcare sector can learn from the HIV Action Plan
Session summary – this will appear as the session description on the public agenda
Find out how the strategies behind reducing new HIV transmissions can be applied to the wider prevention agenda and how learning from the HIV Action Plan can be applied locally.
This session will feature leading voices in the HIV prevention space and explore how opt-out blood testing in accident and emergency has identified thousands of new cases, how innovations in medication have driven down the number of new cases, and how reaching out to communities and addressing stigma have improved engagement with services.
Learning objectives
Attendees will take away a clearer understanding of how the HIV reduction agenda can be used as a blueprint to address their most pressing prevention challenges. They will learn about tools and tactics used to support different demographics and how to be ambitious in their own preventative goals.
Target audience
Senior acute, community, mental health, and system leaders. Commissioners. LGBTQ+ leaders.
How do you plan to run your session?
The session will feature panel speakers including Richard Angell, CEO at the Terrence Higgins Trust to share the impact the action plan has made, Dr Michael Brady, National LGBT Health Advisor, NHSE to speak about delivering the changes in a clinical setting, and Caroline Clarke, Regional Director London, NHSE to speak about her ambitions for zero HIV transmissions in London. The session will be chaired by Ian Green, Chair, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB and Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB. There will be space and time for a Q&A discussion.