23 October 2019

On September 25 and 26, more than 400 delegates flocked to the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham for the RCSLT Conference 2019.

The biennial event is a flagship one in the speech and language therapy profession, offering two days of keynote speeches, parallel sessions, poster presentations, surgeries and workshops covering a wide range of topics. The theme this year was ‘Improving quality in speech and language therapy: everyone’s business’—a concept that is vital for members working across every area of the profession.

Chair of the RCSLT Board of Trustees Della Money kicked off the event by welcoming everyone to Nottingham and highlighting the importance of the conference theme. From then on the programme was non-stop! Keynote addresses included Professor Annette Boaz on driving improvement in speech and language therapy; Professor Marion Walker on co-production, leadership and interdisciplinary working in allied health services; Mrunal Sisodia and Sarah Thomas from the National Network of Parent Carer Forums on partnering with service users; and a panel discussion from a number of national leaders on innovating and improving in one’s own practice.

Meanwhile, parallel sessions and posters from SLTs and healthcare colleagues from across the country (and even the world!) showcased an impressive array of research, service evaluation, audit, ‘brag and steal’, and quality improvement projects.

A number of exhibitors were on show to engage with delegates over the two days, showcasing everything from thickening products to CPD courses to the latest books on professional topics.

On the evening of September 25 the awards and honours ceremony was held at Nottingham Council House. Special guests, including RCSLT patron HRH The Countess of Wessex, RCSLT president Nick Hewer, and the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, attended to offer their warm congratulations to all the winners.

Look out for further information on the outcomes of the conference, and a full list of the Giving Voice Award and RCSLT Honours winners, in the December issue of Bulletin. Resources from many of the sessions will become available on the RCSLT website for all members to access throughout November.

2019 Annual General Meeting

The RCSLT 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place at the conference on 25 September. An important event on our annual calendar, the meeting saw members presented with the trustees’ annual report, the annual accounts and auditors’ report, and the report of appointments to the Board of Trustees for 2019/20.

A first for the 2019 AGM was the presentation of the 2018-19 Impact Report in video format, which was very well received by all in attendance. This year also marked the first time that all the AGM papers were not printed, in order to reduce waste. The papers are instead available to view and download online.