PeopleFirst 2026: The NHS Workforce Transformation, Productivity & Staffing Conference
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PeopleFirst 2026: The NHS Workforce Transformation, Productivity & Staffing Conference
A Skills-Focused Summit on NHS Workforce Transformation, Productivity & Staffing Resillience - All Convenzis Events Provide 8 CPD Points Per Delegate
Take part in our conference prize draw by visiting all stands and scanning your lanyard at each for a chance to win £100 voucher.
Sponsors & Partners
Context and Policy Landscape
The NHS enters the next phase of its long-term transformation with a clear directive: build a sustainable, skilled, and adaptable workforce capable of meeting rising demand and evolving models of care. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan and the wider 10-Year Health Plan set ambitious expectations for productivity, capacity, and new operating models, all of which depend on a confident, well-supported workforce.
Against this backdrop, the NHS continues to face pressures around workforce transformation, productivity, staffing capacity, retention, skills development, and staff wellbeing. The challenge is not only defining the workforce of the future, but equipping organisations with the leadership, workforce models, and practical approaches needed to deliver sustainable productivity and measurable service improvement.
PeopleFirst 2026 provides a collaborative space for senior NHS leaders to strengthen organisational capability, share applied learning, and explore workforce solutions that support safer staffing, improved productivity, enhanced workforce resilience, staff wellbeing, and a resilient, future-ready NHS workforce.
Summit Focus
PeopleFirst 2026 will bring together NHS workforce, operational, and transformation leaders to examine how organisations can turn workforce strategy into measurable operational outcomes. The summit will focus on workforce productivity, staffing resilience, workforce planning, retention, flexible workforce models, workforce analytics, and practical transformation approaches that support sustainable NHS performance and delivery.
Dedicated Skill Clinics will provide focused, hands-on sessions offering tools, checklists, and implementation templates to support local adoption.
Lessons Learned Sessions will deliver candid reflections from NHS leaders on real-world challenges, decision points, and lessons that shaped their approach.
This is not a showcase of what to achieve, but a skills exchange on how to achieve it, translating national ambition into measurable improvement.
Delegates will leave understanding:
- How to align workforce transformation plans with NHS priorities, operational demand, and long-term staffing strategies.
- Ways to improve workforce productivity, staffing resilience, sustainable service delivery and operational performance across services.
- Approaches to strengthening recruitment, retention, skills development, and flexible workforce deployment.
- Methods for embedding effective workforce governance, safe staffing practices, and data-driven decision making.
- Techniques to translate workforce strategy into measurable operational and service improvement through sustainable workforce models.
- How to support staff wellbeing, inclusion, leadership capability, and positive organisational culture to improve workforce and patient experience & outcomes.
What’s New for 2026
- Morning & Afternoon Skill Clinics: immersive sessions focused on actionable tools, checklists, and templates delegates can implement immediately.
- Lessons Learned Sessions: real-world reflections from NHS leaders detailing what went wrong, what changed, and what succeeded.
- Peer Learning Circles: small-group exchanges to explore common challenges and co-design solutions across ICBs and provider collaboratives.
- Action-Driven Case Studies: showcasing not only outcomes achieved, but how results were delivered through process and workforce innovation.
Why Attend
- Earn 8 CPD Points by Attending.
- Explore practical approaches to NHS workforce transformation, staffing resilience, and operational improvement.
- Learn how NHS organisations are improving workforce productivity, retention, and sustainable staffing models.
- Gain insight into workforce planning, workforce analytics, and flexible deployment strategies.
- Hear real-world lessons from NHS leaders delivering measurable workforce and service improvement.
- Connect with peers, workforce leaders, and transformation partners shaping the future NHS workforce.
Who Would Benefit
This summit is ideal for NHS workforce, HR, operational, and transformation leaders responsible for workforce planning, productivity, staffing resilience, and organisational performance. Attendees will include NHS Trust and ICS leaders, Chief People Officers, HR Directors, workforce planners, operational managers, and clinical leaders seeking practical approaches to sustainable workforce improvement.
The event will also benefit recruitment, retention, workforce analytics, and digital transformation teams, alongside suppliers and partners looking to understand the priorities and challenges shaping the future NHS workforce.
Your Pass Includes....
- This conference is CPD accredited. Attendees will be eligible to gain 8 CPD points upon completion of the event.
- Access to a leading conference speaker programme
- Interactive Q&A sessions
- Leadership Lessons from the Front Line
- Cross-sector best practice
- Meet the supplier opportunities
- Hot breakfast & Lunch included
- Access to post event drinks reception and Street food
Tickets For NHS Senior Managers
We have an invite only option for NHS Senior Managers for our conference, to see if you qualify for a complimentary place please click the button below.
Conference Speakers
Dave
Algeo
Resilience/ Wellbeing Speaker
Read biography
Mr Chris Sleight MSc BSc
FIBMS
Chief Executive Officer of Sleight Insights
Formerly Chief Officer of the Greater Manchester Diagnostic Networks
Read biography
The programme
Registration & Networking
Registration - Open from 8:20 am - Closes at 11:00 am
All delegates must complete their registration process before the 11:00 AM cut-off time. Please arrive in a timely manner to allow for registration and to avoid any inconvenience. Delegates who arrive after the registration deadline will be refused entry to the event.
We appreciate your cooperation in helping us maintain the event's schedule and ensuring that everyone can fully participate in the conference. If you have any questions or require assistance, our event staff will be available to assist you with the registration process.
Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to an insightful and productive event together!
Keynote Presentation - Generational Divide in the NHS
Session Overview:
This session explores the growing generational divide within the NHS workforce, examining differences in expectations, well-being and career progression across age groups. Delegates will gain practical insight into the challenges driving retention and morale, and leave with a clearer understanding of how to engage, support and retain staff from every generation to build a more resilient NHS workforce.
Key Themes & Delegate Outcomes:
- Examines expectations, well-being and career progression across age groups.
- Shares practical strategies to engage, support and retain multigenerational teams.
- Understand key generational workforce challenges.
- Identify drivers of staff morale and retention.
- Learn approaches to support and retain staff across all generations.
- Build a more resilient NHS workforce.
Morning Skill Clinic - Building Sustainable, Productive & Future-Ready NHS Workforce Models
Session Overview:
An interactive session exploring how NHS organisations, systems, and collaboratives can align workforce transformation with national priorities, operational pressures, and long-term service sustainability.
Key Themes Delegate Outcomes:
- Improving workforce productivity, staffing resilience, sustainable service delivery, and operational performance across services.
- Strengthening recruitment, retention, skills development, and flexible workforce deployment approaches.
- Embedding effective workforce governance, safe staffing practices, and data-driven decision making.
- Supporting staff wellbeing, inclusion, leadership capability, and positive organisational culture to improve workforce and patient experience outcomes.
Main Sponsor - Workforce Strategy & Planning: Using data analytics and commercial intelligence to drive improved outcomes
Main Sponsor - NHS Workforce Alliance
We are a value-adding NHS resource that supports NHS leaders and operational teams in all aspects of workforce planning and management at no direct cost to the NHS.
Unrivalled workforce support
The Alliance is a partnership between Government Commercial Agency and the four NHS-owned and operated collaborative procurement hubs. We have been working together since 2019 to combine our experience and expertise for the benefit of the NHS.
Case Study - Rambutan
Case Study - Rambutan
Hello! Here at Rambutan, we’re behavioural experts in understanding ‘Why people do what they do’. This knowledge informs our work – from coaching, leadership development and behavioural change, to culture, employee engagement and our own unique 360° leadership tool Rambutan Evolve; all delivered face-to-face or online.
We’re a refreshing bunch who love to create engaging work experiences where people, teams and whole organisations can fulfil their potential and achieve tangible results.
Case Study
Case Study
Leadership Interview Session - Productivity, Innovation & the Future NHS Workforce
Session Overview:
A leadership conversation exploring how NHS organisations can improve workforce productivity, innovation, and service sustainability while maintaining high-quality patient care.
Key Themes Delegate Outcomes:
- Improving workforce productivity, staffing resilience, and sustainable service delivery across clinical services.
- How workforce innovation and service redesign can support operational performance and demand management.
- Translating workforce strategy into measurable operational improvement through new models of care and practice.
- Supporting staff wellbeing, inclusion, leadership capability, and positive organisational culture to enable adoption of change.
Leadership Focus:
Exploring the leadership behaviours required to enable innovation, support workforce transformation, and sustain safe, effective, and productive services across the NHS.
Case Study
Case Study
Case Study
Case Study
NHS Deep Dive - Transforming Trainee Pharmacist Training: A Single Lead Employer Model
Speaker:
Uzoma Ibechukwu, Director of Pharmacy & Medicines Optimisation, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
A deep dive into the case study on the success of Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire ICS, introducing a Single Lead Employer model for trainee pharmacists. Developed collaboratively in response to high vacancy rates and changes to pharmacists' education, the model supports multi-sector placements.
Key Themes Delegate Outcomes:
- Examines collaborative approaches to addressing pharmacy vacancy rates.
- Highlights responses to changes in pharmacist education and training.
- Showcases the benefits of multi-sector trainee placements.
- Demonstrates how the model improves, Recruitment, Retention, Training quality.
- Focuses on building a sustainable, integrated pharmacy workforce.
- Understand the development and implementation of a Single Lead Employer model.
- Learn how multi-sector placements can improve recruitment and retention.
- Explore practical approaches to strengthening pharmacy workforce sustainability.
Case Study
Case Study
Workshop - Are You Sweating the Right Sprout?
Do you...
- Find that day to day demands affect your well-being?
- Feel that negative stress affects your health?
- Want to cope more positively with setbacks?
- Want to learn practical, ‘no- nonsense’ tools to manage these demanding times more positively?
Then this session is for you...
- Put stress in its place - the cabbages and stress link.
- Recognise and manage overwhelm more effectively - the cabbage or sprout conundrum.
- Deal with the demands of life, work and these challenging times - Slicing, Dicing and Sweating - positive coping tips.
- Developing a Resilient/‘Self Care’ Focus - meet your ‘inner ????’ (One final secret vegetable)
The session will be engaging, interactive and fun, whilst providing you with practical, no-nonsense tips and tools to implement in your day to day life.
Afternoon Skill Clinic - Building the NHS Analytical Workforce: Professional Pathways, Networks & Future Skills
Session Overview:
This mini panel brings together representatives from AphA’s core leadership, professional registration team, and regional networks to explore the evolving role of healthcare analysts within the NHS workforce.
Key Themes Delegate Outcomes:
- Highlights emerging professional pathways in health and care.
- Explores the value of community-led networks.
- Examines the skills needed for modern health and care delivery.
- Demonstrates how analytics capability supports, Workforce planning, Service improvement and Organisational resilience.
- Gain insight into developing analytics capability in health and care.
- Understand the role of networks and professional pathways.
- Identify key skills required for modern service delivery.
- Learn how analytics can strengthen workforce and organisational resilience.
Breakout Skill Clinic - Operationalising Workforce Change: Local Solutions, Shared Challenges, Cultural Transformation, Retention, and a Supportive Workforce Environment
Session Overview:
This in-depth session will explore future workforce supply and capability, examining:
- Scaling apprenticeships and alternative entry pathways.
- Workforce mobility and flexible deployment models.
- Strengthening clinical and non-clinical skill pipelines.
- Embedding continuous professional development within service delivery.
- Partnerships between the NHS, academia, and industry for long-term workforce resilience.
- Digital workforce capability and new technical skillsets.
- Embedding wellbeing into operational practice.
Key Themes Delegate Outcomes:
- Focus on practical enablers for implementation.
- Exploration of key implementation barriers.
- Application of learning across, ICBs, Provider collaboratives.
- Understand common implementation challenges.
- Identify solutions that can be adapted across organisations.
- Gain insight into collaborative system-wide improvement.
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Limited places
Limited places
Limited places
