eHealth community confirms HC2013 a success HC2014 will take place at Manchester Central

Delegates and suppliers attending HC2013, the UK’s national health IT conference and exhibition have hailed the event as providing one of the most educational and diverse networking platforms in recent years prompting a move to a larger venue in Manchester next year.

HIMSS, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and event management company Citadel Events announced last summer that they would combine their commitment and resources to provide an impactful event, utilising academic, business and global healthcare experience to attract, connect and inform stakeholders involved in transforming healthcare through IT.

HC2013, which took place at the Birmingham ICC on the 16th-17th April 2013 attracted more than 2100 visitors seeking to learn, share and debate best practice as well as providing an educational tool to better understand wider government policy in the changing healthcare landscape.

James Norman, director of IM&T at The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “NHS IT directors are tasked with deciding what conferences will be of real benefit to their organisations and this year HC2013 proved to be one of those. Not only did it provide an excellent networking opportunity, with a wide spread of healthcare provider organisations from right across theUKattending, but also it delivered real value through the chance to listen to speakers and stimulating discussions on real issues prevalent to the NHS right now.”

The conference provided numerous high profile speakers including those from the newly established NHS England, NICE and Health & Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) as well as many healthcare professionals, who are leading the way in NHS IT at their own NHS organisations.

Matthew D’Arcy, e-government specialist for Public Servant magazine and online editor for Publicservice.co.uk, said: “HC2013 provided a highly informative conference with influential speakers. It was extremely useful both in terms of delivering a deeper understanding of crucial themes in the digitally evolving health service, and in providing a wealth of newsworthy material. Engaging talks from health service leaders and an inspiring video address from Archbishop Desmond Tutu helped to demonstrate the importance of technology in improving the healthcare of millions.”

In addition, more than 100 different suppliers and partners attended the event giving delegates a huge insight and access to the new products available on the market.

Helen Parslow, director of marketing and business Development (EMEA) for Harris Healthcare Solutions and event sponsor’s added: “HC2013 provided a timely platform for debate and an opportunity to bring together industry and Health organisations in a rapidly changing health, social and community care environment. BCS and HIMSS, put together a thought leadership agenda, that supported the current hot topics, with real world experience.”

Due to the event’s significant growth, HIMSS and BCS plan to expand the event to Manchester Central in 2014 to cater for an even larger audience.

Steve Lieber, president and CEO of HIMSS said: “The show has been a huge success, with more than the combined number of delegates from the two separate shows of 2012 (HC2012 and HEALTH+IN4MATICS) attending this single event. Feedback from all stakeholders has been extremely positive and HIMSS looks forward to playing a significant role in supporting the healthcare IT industry reach its full potential.”

Mike Sinclair, chair of the Conference Organising Committee, for BCS Health added: “This year we saw significant contributions from our partners, with national bodies such as NICE, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Nursing, NHS England and theInstituteofHealth Recordsand Information Management provided exceedingly popular conference streams. We will be building on these partnerships and also increase our focus on private healthcare and the use of informatics by professionals across the health and social care sectors in 2014. We hope that you will be able to join us then!”

   

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