RCN Acute Care Symposium 2025
Advances in acute care: exploring the latest innovations and developments
20 Jun 2025, 09:00 - 16:15
Choose event information:
Back by popular demand! Join us in-person at RCN HQ on Friday 20 June.
This one-day conference provides an unmissable opportunity to get the latest updates and developments on key issues in acute care nursing to enhance your professional practice, improve patient outcomes, and help you stay ahead in your career.
Immerse yourself in discussions led by leading experts as we explore current issues and developments in acute and emergency care.
Network with other nursing professionals, engage with exhibitors and pose questions to our expert speakers.
This symposium is delivered in partnership with the following RCN Forums:
• Critical Care and Flight Nursing Forum
• Emergency Care Forum
• Perioperative Care Forum
• Defence Nursing Forum
Programme highlights include:
• Delirium: the patient perspective
• The perioperative care pathway
• Diabetes emergency skills and surgery
• Advances in pain management
• An insight into working with spinal injury patients in low-income countries
• Panel discussion: the journey to advanced practice
Learning outcomes:
• Understand the patient perspective and impact on acute care
• Consider and explore current challenges in emergency and perioperative care
• Gain up to date knowledge and explore new guidance and innovations in emergency care
• Discuss and debate development of the nursing workforce and the journey to advanced practice.
• Gain insight into and be inspired by acute care career pathways
Who should attend?
This conference is aimed at any member of the nursing team including nursing associates, health care support workers and students involved in acute care setting, both in the NHS and independent sector.
What previous attendees have said about the Acute Care Symposium:
“Excellent event with great speakers who gave amazing knowledge and understanding about the topics discussed in the event.”
“Approachability of all present was refreshing, with an inspiring intro from the director of nursing.”
Secure your spot now!
RCN Events
rcnevents@rcn.org.uk
02076473577
Royal College of Nursing
20 Cavendish Square
Marylebone
London
W1G 0RN
20 Cavendish Square is located behind John Lewis, Oxford Street.
Tube
The nearest stations are Oxford Circus and Bond Street.
Bus
There are many buses routes that stop nearby, including the 10, 25, 55, 73, 98 and 390.
Chair: Jason Cross, RCN Perioperative Forum, POPS ANP & Nurse Lead, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
Jason was a committee member for the RCN Perioperative nursing steering group for a number of years before election to forum chair in December 2021. He stepped down from this role at the end of 2024.
Jason is the nurse lead for POPS (Perioperative medicine for the Older Person undergoing Surgery) at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.
In addition to this he has input into medical student, junior doctor and ward nurse education programmes. He has spoken nationally and internationally on the use of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in the surgical setting, developing the workforce and on his role as an independent practitioner. Previous work has included working with the RCN, HEE and the British Geriatric Society in developing a curricular and competency framework for nurses wishing to direct their career towards perioperative care. He was a member of the expert panel for the NICE perioperative care guideline.
Specialist interests include:
• management of the surgical patient with complex medical co-morbidities
• pre-operative comprehensive geriatric assessment of the surgical patient
• staff education focusing on older patients needs in hospital.
• workforce development.
Speakers:
Kerry Lyons, Consultant Admiral Nurse for Frailty and Physical Health, Dementia UK
Kerry is a Consultant Admiral Nurse specializing in frailty and physical health at Dementia UK. After qualifying as an RGN at Manchester University in 1996, she completed further postgraduate studies. Kerry has published several times and received national awards for nursing innovation from the British Medical Journal, Nursing Times, RCNi, and HSJ. In 2019, she became Lead Acute Admiral Nurse, earning the RCNi Commitment to Carers Award and UK Dementia Practitioner of the Year Award. In January 2023, she took her first national Consultant Nurse post at Dementia UK. Kerry's personal journey includes supporting her grandfather and her mother with dementia.
Melissa Grundy, Consultant Admiral Nurse for Frailty and Physical Health, Dementia UK
Melissa is the Consultant Admiral Nurse for Frailty and Physical Health at Dementia UK. She qualified as an RGN at De Montfort university in 2005, later completing further postgraduate studies. Melissa’s career spans roles from staff nurse in surgery and community hospitals to Lead Admiral Nurse working in acute care, she has a specialist interest in Delirium. Melissa’s experience with dementia and supporting families/carers pursues her dedication and passion to improving care for others. She joined Dementia UK in 2025 as a Consultant Admiral Nurse for Frailty and Physical Health.
Tamsin Fletcher-Salt, Clinical Diabetes Specialist Nurse & Team Leader, Clinical Lead Diabetes Inpatients NHSE (Midlands Network)
Tamsin has worked in the NHS for 15 years and has been a DSN for the last 10 years and works at the Royal Stoke University Hospital part of the University Hospital of North Midlands NHS Trust.
Tamsin’s current role involves being team leader for the diabetes and endocrinology nurse team, the role encompasses both inpatient and outpatient responsibilities and is very clinical in nature. She is a non-medical prescriber.
Tamsin is the clinical lead for diabetes inpatients NHSE (Midlands Network) and is also director for the DSN Forum UK Ltd.
Tamsin has completed her MSc in Diabetes Management with Kings College London.
Karin Cannons, Nurse Consultant Pain Management, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Karin trained at St Bartholomew’s hospital in London. She spent most of her early career immersed in caring for patients having general, neuro or cardiothoracic surgery or those who were critically ill. Karin moved into pain management in 1999 and is a Nurse Consultant at Frimley Health NHS Trust. She leads and works clinically in 3 services that see inpatients and outpatients referred to the chronic pain clinic. Her current research and audit focus is removing long-acting opioids from post operative pathways. She is a member of the steering committee of the RCN’s pain and palliative care forum.
Fiona Stephenson, FRCN, RN. Health Care Capacity Building Advisor and Medico-Legal Expert Witness
Fiona Stephenson has over 40 years of nursing experience and found her passion in spinal cord injury (SCI) nursing care, through volunteer work after the earthquakes in Haiti in 2010 and in Nepal in 2015. Fiona became a Fellow of the RCN in 2016 and she has been an active member of the International Spinal Cord Society and on its Education, Disaster and Nurse Committees for many years. She is co-founder of The International Network of SCI Nurses. She volunteers regularly to advise on international healthcare capacity building in SCI care. Fiona also set up England’s first, and extremely successful, transitional care spinal injury centre linked to the NHS. She is a core member of the WHO SCI working group. She was awarded the UK Cavell Nurses Trust’s International Impact Award in 2017 and in 2018 the ‘Points of Light" award by the UK Prime Minister for exceptional services to spinal cord injury. At present Fiona works as a medico-legal Expert Witness and advises on SCI health care capacity building.
Suman Shrestha, RCN Professional Lead for Critical Care, Consultant Nurse, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Suman Shrestha is a Consultant Nurse in Critical Care at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. He is also a qualified Advanced Critical Care Practitioner and Associate Member of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine. He has wide range of clinical, managerial and academic experiences within healthcare. External to the Trust, he is Professional Lead for Critical Care at the Royal College of Nursing and Past Chair of the UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance. He has lead initiatives improving care for patients with sepsis locally within his Trust and has also worked with NICE, NHSE, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges(AoMRC) and NCEPOD on sepsis related workstreams.
Professor Natalie Pattison, Professor of Clinical Nursing, University of Hertfordshire / East and North Herts NHS Trust
Natalie is a clinical academic who has worked clinically in cancer, critical care and critical care outreach. She is a Professor of Clinical Nursing with a joint appointment across the University of Hertfordshire and East and North Herts NHS Trust (ENHT). She is the clinical lead for critical care follow-up services in ENHT, combining this with a research role. Her research interests focus on her clinical area of critical care and critically ill ward patients, critical care recovery, end of life in critical care, and disability in critical care. She is widely published in critical care supportive care.
Natalie is Chair of the National Outreach Forum, past-Chair of UK Critical Care Research Group, and the UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance. She is also Deputy Lead for the National Institute for Health Research National Specialty Group for Critical Care.
Benefits of attending:
• Accrue up to 7.5 hours of CPD to count towards your revalidation
• Use the opportunity to put questions to expert speakers
• Network with peers from across the UK and build professional relationships
• Engage with exhibitors on new service developments and products.
• Consider and highlight best practice at national and local level.
Need a helping hand with securing time off or funding to attend? Please download these helpful hints and tips.
Event fees
|
Type |
Ex VAT |
Inc VAT |
|
Non-Member |
£200 + VAT |
£240 |
|
RCN Member |
£135 + VAT |
£162 |
|
RCN Member: pre-reg student/HCA/ retired member |
£75 |
£90 |
|
RCN representatives (25% discount) |
£101.25 |
£121.50 |
Join the RCN to be immediately eligible for the member rate.
Discounts available (max one per booking) - redeemable via telephone/booking form only.
25% discount - Accredited RCN representatives, forum steering committee members or any member that has been elected to undertake an official RCN role.
10% discount - Group discount when three or more delegates book together.
Conditions and exclusions
- Discounted offers cannot be combined. Only one discount can be used for each booking whether it is an individual or group booking.
- Discounts cannot be accumulated or redeemed when booking online. Please contact RCN Event Registration to book a discounted place
Join the RCN to be immediately eligible for the member rate.
To make a booking
Online bookings are the easiest and fastest way to book 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Bookings can be made by phone with payment by credit card/Maestro, by calling +44 (0)2920 546460. Lines are open from 9.30am - 4.30pm Monday to Friday.
Bookings can also be made via email with a downloaded booking form with credit card details or payment/remittance advice emailed to eventsreg@rcn.org.uk
All bookings will be confirmed in writing.
You will not be registered for this event unless payment accompanies your application. Places cannot be held provisionally.
The RCN reserves the right to refuse any booking at any time.
To pay by invoice
To pay by invoice you must send all of the below to eventsreg@rcn.org.uk
- A copy of the Purchase Order document from your organisation or company (we cannot process your order without it).
- Your Finance department/accounts payable contact email address to receive an electronic copy of the invoice from us.
- A completed RCN Events Booking Form for each delegate in the booking.
Once the invoice has been raised, you will then receive confirmation of your delegate booking on the event requested. Invoices are to be paid within 30 days of the invoice being issued.
View the event Terms and Conditions.
There are a number of ways you can get involved, from networking to raise your profile to tailored commercial packages to help achieve specific objectives. Please contact the exhibitions team on 020 7647 3959 or email exhibitions@rcn.org.uk.
Eventsreg@rcn.org.uk
+44 (0)2920 546460
For any other queries relating to this conference please contact the RCN Events Team:
RCNevents@rcn.org.uk
+44 (0)207 6473577
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Page last updated - 11/02/2025
