Keynote - Baroness Helena Kennedy KC

Baroness Helena Kennedy, a King’s Counsel, is one of Britain's most distinguished lawyers. She has spent her professional life, giving voice to those who have least power within the system, championing civil liberties, and promoting human rights. She has used many public platforms – including the House of Lords - to argue with passion, wit and humanity for social justice.

In 2021, she evacuated from Afghanistan 103 women judges and lawyers, with their families, who were on Taliban “kill lists”.

She led an independent review for the Royal College of Surgeons, also published in 2021, which investigated the attainment gap in surgery and diversity in leadership. The report was fundamental to placing diversity and equality at the core of the College’s new strategy. Baroness Kennedy has received honours for her work on human rights from the governments of France and Italy and has been awarded a multitude of honorary doctorates.

Opening plenary - Shaun Lintern

Shaun Lintern is health editor of The Sunday Times. An investigative health journalist for more than a decade, he has helped expose some of the worst scandals in NHS history, including the Shropshire and Telford maternity disaster and poor care at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust and subsequent public inquiry.

Shaun was health correspondent for The Independent and previously bureau chief for the Health Service Journal.

Tim Spector is a medically qualified Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the TwinsUK Registry at King’s College London. His current work focuses on the microbiome and nutrition, and he is co-founder of ZOE, a personalised nutrition company, which runs the world’s largest nutrition study, ZOE Predict and has created a commercial at-home kit for personalised nutrition. He is also the lead researcher behind the world's biggest citizen science health project - the ZOE Health Study, formerly known as ZOE COVID Study, which provided essential data in response to the pandemic.

He was awarded an OBE for this work. Having published more than 900 research articles, he is ranked in the top 100 of the world’s most cited scientists by Google. He is the author of four popular science books, including "The Diet Myth”, "Spoon Fed", and most recently “Food for Life”, a Sunday Times bestseller.  He makes regular appearances on social and mainstream media

Tim Spector is a medically qualified Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the TwinsUK Registry at King’s College London. His current work focuses on the microbiome and nutrition, and he is co-founder of ZOE, a personalised nutrition company, which runs the world’s largest nutrition study, ZOE Predict and has created a commercial at-home kit for personalised nutrition. He is also the lead researcher behind the world's biggest citizen science health project - the ZOE Health Study, formerly known as ZOE COVID Study, which provided essential data in response to the pandemic.

He was awarded an OBE for this work. Having published more than 900 research articles, he is ranked in the top 100 of the world’s most cited scientists by Google. He is the author of four popular science books, including "The Diet Myth”, "Spoon Fed", and most recently “Food for Life”, a Sunday Times bestseller.  He makes regular appearances on social and mainstream media.

Dr Jenny Vaughan is a Consultant Neurologist and ‘Learn not Blame’ lead at the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK). Jenny is a leading campaigner for reforming the law on gross negligence manslaughter when applied to people working in healthcare. She articulated the unease many people felt at the conviction of the surgeon David Sellu and, as campaign chair for his appeal, was instrumental in getting his conviction overturned. Along with Sellu’s legal team she is widely credited for having modernised the law in this area. She led her team to 'winner' in the Modern Law category for their work on the Sellu appeal (2018). She has been equally vocal in defence of Hadiza Bawa-Garba and was a leading supporter of her successful bid against erasure. Vaughan’s contributions helped shape the conclusions of the Williams review in June 2018. She now campaigns for a “just culture” in healthcare and for improvements to patient safety by working with the Doctor’s Association UK (DAUK), where she is Chair and ‘Learn not Blame’ lead and by working with the BMA. In 2023 she was awarded an OBE for work on 'Just Culture' in Healthcare.

Mr Rob Bethune
Colorectal Surgeon, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospitals

Dr Pippa Blacklock
Associate Dean Professional Education and Development, Health Education England (HEE) South West

Dr Tricia Woodhead
Associate Clinical Director for Patient Safety at West of England AHSN and Visiting Senior Research Fellow University of Bath

Dr David Sharpe KC
Barrister, 12 King's Bench Walk

Dr Hayden Stephenson
Intensive Care Consultant, Aneurin Bevan Health Board

Joan Pons Laplana is a multi award-winning Nurse, a change agent and a Care Maker.

Nicola Davey

Quality Improvement Practitioner

Hannah Rusby
Paramedic, Clinical Team Manager and Community Resuscitation Trainer London Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Dr Andrew Rochford
Improvement Clinical Director, Royal College of Physicians

Daniel Smith
Editor-in-Chief, RCP Medical care - driving change

Dr Clare Sweeney
Medico-legal adviser
Medical Defence Union

Dr Kieran Walsh
Clinical Director at the BMJ

Dr Seline Ismail-Callaghan
FY3 Emergency Medicine doctor, Isle of Man

Dr Laura Munglani

Haematology Registrar, Welsh Clinical Leadership Training Fellows (WCLTF) programme

Renata Poole
Pharmacist and Welsh Clinical Leadership Training Fellows (WCLTF) programme