HCAs and APs at RCN Congress

Congress 2013, 22-24 April 2013, Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre (ACC)

This year was the first time that our Health Practitioner committee members were voting, and they made sure their voices were heard. There was great support in the hall for mandatory regulation of HCSWs and this showed clearly several times throughout the week.

HCAs and APs were offered a choice of joining in with the main Congress programme or dipping in and out of three days of sessions running alongside the main events. There was a welcome session in the morning, with speakers from NHS England and a slot on making Congress work for you, and several  workshops in the afternoons on a range of topics including cancer care, learning disability and criminal justice nursing, diabetes and patient safety. The workshop presentations are available to download below.  

• Patient safety online learning resource
• Diabetes essentials (PDF 1.2MB) See how to access PDF files.
• Talk cancer myths and beliefs (PDF 1.1MB)
  

So a very different flavour to Congress this year, and definitely a huge step in the direction of full integration. For those of you who spoke to the committee and Council members, your comments will be discussed at the next committee meeting. We will also be discussing next year’s Congress and how best to provide you, our HCA and AP members with an experience that meets your needs. If you do have any ideas for next year please email hca@rcn.org.uk. 

Although Congress is over, you can still access all the debates and news on our Congress page. Congress 2014 will take place in Liverpool from 15-19 June.