There was a real buzz around the Manchester Conference Centre on the first day of UKONS Conference 2024 and it certainly seemed like the biggest event yet ! It was great to be back again on the stand and although a little tucked out the way this year were thrilled by the interest in our platform and the work we are doing with NHS trusts supporting Cancer Patients.
This year it definitely felt like things had moved on in terms of use of digital tools in supporting Cancer Patients. We heard from teams ready and actively looking to procure a digital offer or already using digital tools to support their patients. The themes of usage and interest were quite well described as well with a clear interest and focus on using digital in supporting patients onto and through SACT as well as realising prehab resources, tracking toxicities and linking into AOS and through single points of access. This was great validation for our current MySunrise offer which is focussed on supporting patients with the right advice at every step through cancer specific pathways, with digital tools helping patients onboard onto SACT, monitoring them on treatment and lots more.
Our poster this year in partnership with Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust highlighted the real benefits in patient experience and nursing time saved of 1 hr per appointment through the use of a virtual out of hospital SACT pre-assessment.
The few sessions we made it to when not on the stand were really useful with great insights into prehab and we couldn’t write a blog of the event without mentioning Prof Michael West’s talk on compassionate leadership which was hugely inspiring and a topic that has never felt more pertinent given the exhaustion and burnout currently evident in NHS teams. We hope this continues to inspire teams even when they are back in the thick of it next week.
Finally of course the evening entertainment was a great success – Karaoke this year and there seemed to be no shortage of great singing voices. A fantastic recipe for a hugely inspiring and informative conference. Congratulations to all involved in organising a great conference board and speakers. We are proud to sponsor UKONs again this year and very much hope to be able to develop a closer partnership in our work over the next year or so.
