Day 2: Tuesday 17 November

Kindly supported by JDDK Architects 

With many aging hospices facing financial pressures and increasing demand, estate developments are increasingly necessary, but large-scale new build projects are not always viable. As a result, many organisations are exploring how existing facilities can be adapted, extended and improved - often while remaining fully operational.

This session will share insights from the recently completed Martin House Children’s Hospice project that combined refurbishment and new build, delivered while the hospice remained fully operational throughout construction. 

Drawing on both client and design perspectives, the discussion will explore the practical realities of delivering change in today’s climate - including funding challenges, phasing strategies, stakeholder engagement and maintaining day-to-day care.          

Delegates will gain practical insights and lessons learned that can help inform their own estate strategies, whether they are considering refurbishment, extension or a new build project. 

Speakers: 

• Clair Holdsworth, CEO, Martin House Children’s Hospice 
• Robyn Mountain Wade, Director of Income Generation, Martin House Children’s Hospice 
• Mura Mullan, Director – Healthcare, JDDK Architects 
• Nicky Hodgson, Associate Director & Stakeholder Engagement Lead, JDDK Architects 
• Adam Vaughan, Director, JDDK Architects; Co-chair, RIBA North East Sustainability Forum  

👥: All delegates

This session includes four presentations of abstracts submitted via our Call for Papers: 

• From uncertainty to application: advancing AI capability in hospice and palliative care practice across the island of Ireland. (All Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care) 
• Reducing carbon through digital tools: the GRACE environmental impact assessment project. (Dorothy House Hospice et al) 
• Repurposing medicines. (Sue Ryder) 
• A whole organisation approach to recovery, learning and continuous improvement. (Hospice of the Good Shepherd) 

👥: All delegates

More than a third of the hospice clinical workforce is over 55, and new national frameworks have set the direction of travel. But frameworks do not build careers; people and organisations do. 

This session takes 'modelling the future workforce' literally. Working with a structured approach, each table receives a persona from the 2036 workforce; maybe a T-level school leaver, a former army medic, a rural advanced practitioner or a social worker leading a community team. You will work backwards to 2026, uncovering what has to change in education, regulation, funding and culture to make that career real. Short 'witness' contributions from inside and beyond the sector will spark the thinking.  

The gaps the room uncovers will be published after the conference, feeding directly into national work on career and learning pathways led by Hospice UK. 

Speakers to be announced.

👥: CEOs and leadership, Clinical and workforce leaders, Clinicians, Educationalists and Learning and Development Professionals, Students

The NHS is the world’s 5th fifth largest organisation. It has committed to making best use of technology to tackle key problems of affordability, productivity and improving outcomes for patients. But given that the experience of digital technologies in the NHS has been mixed, James Freed of NHS England, will share insights and experiences that hospices can learn from. 

Moving from strategy to practice, Melanie Craig of Sue Ryder will present a real-world case study of their trial of Heidi AI, an ambient voice technology designed to support clinical documentation through automated transcription and note-taking. You will gain practical insight into the opportunities, challenges and considerations involved in adopting AI tools in care settings, helping hospice leaders to make informed decisions about the future of digital transformation in hospice care. 

Speakers: 

• Melanie Craig, Chief Operating Officer, Sue Ryder 
• James Freed, Deputy Director, the NHS Digital Academy, NHS England 

👥: Tech, Data, CEOs, Clinical

This session will explore how communities, people with lived experience, artists, academics and grassroots organisations are helping to shape bereavement support in ways that better reflect people's real experiences, needs and preferences. 

Speakers: 

• Luke Alfano, Founder, Too Young to Grieve 

• Professor Lucy Selman, Founding Director of the Good Grief Festival; Professor of Palliative and End of Life Care, University of Bristol 

• Another speaker to be announced

 👥: All delegates

Many people with neurodegenerative conditions have unmet palliative care needs, yet hospice involvement remains limited. This session will explore how hospices can begin to engage with this group in realistic and achievable ways. 

Drawing on national context, programme learning, and real-world case studies from hospice grantees, speakers will share practical examples of small-scale interventions—such as building local relationships, introducing support groups, and developing staff confidence. The session will focus on reducing perceived barriers, challenging misconceptions about eligibility, and demonstrating how meaningful impact can be achieved without significant additional resource. 

Attendees will leave with concrete ideas to take back to their teams, alongside a better understanding of how hospices can play a key role in improving care for people with neurodegenerative conditions and their families. 

Speakers: 

• Candice Lewis, Programme Manager, Hospice UK 
• Dr Jonathan Martin, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 
• Gwyneth Morgan, Neurological Link Nurse, Nightingale House Hospice, Wrexham 
• Gemma Umpleby, Director of Strategy and Development, Humber and North Yorkshire Hospice Collaborative Lead, North Yorkshire Hospice Care 

Chair: Julia Russell

 👥: All delegates

Zine-making: A place for storytelling and creative expression.

Zines originated in the 1930s as a way for sci-fi fans to connect and share ideas. These days they are used for a range of purposes, including protesting, educating, and self-publishing short fiction. We will provide a simple template and some suggested prompts to support you in making your own zine.  

Pop by the Creative Toolkit table during lunchtime to enjoy some mindful making and experience the power of creative expression in supporting reflection, relaxation and connection.  

No expertise is need and there will be experienced facilitators on hand to provide support if you need it. 

👥: All delegates

This drop-in will also provide space for you to catch up with each other and speak to Hospice UK CEO Toby directly.

👥: CEOs

Lunchtime session 1: Unify our message - strengthen our voice 

This collaborative and interactive workshop will discuss the need for a message framework for the hospice sector to support a more structured and consistent approach to communication. We know from members that there is a demand for more shared language for us all to draw from in our marketing and communications. 

The workshop will explore a shared understanding of our core message pillars including unique value and strengths. Breakout sessions will provide an opportunity for discussion and sharing of ideas to bring together common threads and themes. 

Led by Lorraine Bridges, Head of Communications, Hospice UK 

👥: All delegates

Hospices across the UK are benefitting from partnership working with universities. These relationships can be multi-faceted and mutually beneficial, with implications for research, workforce and training, innovation and community engagement. 

In this session, representatives from hospices and universities will share how they are working and discuss the various ways in which hospices can instigate and deepen relationships with higher education institutions. 

Speakers: 

• Prof. Cara Bailey, Professor of End of Life Care, University of Birmingham and St Giles Hospice 
• Prof. Kate Flemming, Head of Department of Health Sciences, University of York and Trustee at St Leonard’s Hospice 
• Another speaker to be announced  

👥: All delegates

Members of the Hospice UK Trustee Network are invited to connect with peers from across the sector.  

👥: Trustees

This session includes four presentations of abstracts submitted via our Call for Papers: 

• Adding OT to the O2: an occupational therapy led intervention to manage treatment intolerance in an assisted home ventilation service. (St Oswald’s Hospice) 
• Integrating point-of-care ultrasound into community palliative care in Somerset: developing a new clinical service. (Somerset Foundation Trust) 
• Transforming ascitic drainage delivery: hospice virtual ward model improving capacity, reducing costs and enhancing patient care. (Ashgate Hospice) 
• Improving patient access and confidence in aural care (including ear wax removal) – a service improvement project. (Royal Trinity Hospice)  

👥: All delegates

Session delivered in collaboration with Together for Short Lives.

Children's palliative care providers increasingly recognise that working in isolation is unsustainable - both financially and in terms of influence. 

But what does meaningful collaboration actually look like in practice, and how do we move from informal partnership to genuine system leadership? 

This session builds on previous conference themes, showcasing real examples of regional collaboration, organisational merger, and collective commissioning across the children's palliative care sector. It will explore how providers are working with ICBs as strategic partners, the governance questions that collaborative models raise, and the risks of fragmentation when collaboration doesn't happen. 

Speakers will share honest reflections - including what hasn't worked - and the session will ask whether national-level collaboration is a realistic aspiration or an impossible dream. 

Speakers:

• Phil Morris, Chief Executive, Children's Hospice South West
• Julie Clayton, Chief Executive, Eden Valley Hospice
• Dr. Emily Harrop, Medical Director & Consultant in Paediatric Palliative Care, Helen & Douglas House
• Zoe Woods, Head of All Age Palliative and End of Life Care and Community Services, NHS Thames Valley Integrated Care Board (ICB) 

👥: All delegates

Transition from children’s to adult palliative care is often framed as a system under pressure – with persistent narratives that children’s hospices are ‘doing more’ while adult services are ‘not set up’ to meet the needs of young people. 

But how accurate are these assumptions, and what impact do they have on equity of care? 

This thought-provoking session will challenge some of the most common myths surrounding transition. Drawing on practice, evidence, and lived experience, we will explore how these narratives can unintentionally lower expectations of adult hospices, reinforce inequities, and create fragmented pathways for young people with life-limiting conditions.  

Together, we will: 

• Bust key myths about transition, including assumptions about capability, capacity, and responsibility across children’s and adult services. 
• Examine the equity gap, asking why young people’s access to high-quality, age-appropriate care varies so widely depending on where they live and which service they enter. 
• Reframe the role of adult hospices, moving from ‘not set up for’ to ‘actively building expertise and confidence’ in young people’s care. 
• Explore what good looks like, including examples where adult services are embedding young people’s care as everyday practice, rather than exception. 
• Identify practical actions leaders and practitioners can take to create more balanced, equitable systems of care. 

This session is for anyone involved in commissioning, leading, or delivering palliative care who wants to move beyond assumptions and towards a more equitable, system-wide approach to transition. 

Speakers to be announced. 

👥: Clinical, Service leads, Community Engagement, Children's, Data

Supported by DAC Beachcroft.  

This session will include a governance overview from DAC Beachcroft and explore the options for hospice collaborations and mergers and how hospices are navigating them.  It will cover board decision-making, shared due diligence, organisational change and key considerations for implementation. 

Speakers: 

• Susan Hamilton, CEO, St Peter’s Hospice, Bristol 
• Stuart Palma, CEO, Southern Hospice Group, Sussex 
• Emma-Jane Dalley, Partner, DAC Beachcroft  
• Corinne Slingo, Partner, DAC Beachcroft 

 👥: CEOs, Finance, Children's

This session will bring together national, system and hospice perspectives to explore the aims of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme and how it is being delivered in practice.  

Speakers will share their current experiences, reflections on where the programme is heading, and what this means for hospices. The session will help attendees understand the opportunities for hospice involvement and consider how they can engage effectively with neighbourhood health developments in their own local areas. 

Speakers:  

• Judi Newman, CEO, St Elizabeth’s Hospice 
• Nicola Nicholson, Associate Director for Strategy and Programmes, Leeds Health and Care Partnership  

👥:  Clinical, CEOs, Trustees, Community Engagement