I am attending the Primary Care Live conference today at the swanky ExCel Centre in east London and I am not disappointed.
I managed to get here on time despite going into the Courier & Parcel Logistics Expo 2008 by mistake which is taking place in the same venue. This kind of thing usually happens before I have my morning coffee.
The exhibition village at the heart of Primary Care Live is filled with charities, healthcare organisations and companies all here to showcase their products/services/fancy stands for GPs, nurses and healthcare professionals.
There are also sixteen conference streams over the two days of the conference, covering everything from managing diabetes to an analysis of the future landscape of primary care. The effects of the credit crunch are definitely felt with seminars on managing shrinking budgets in general practice.
Although some organisations such as NHS Choices don’t seem to be affected at all by the current global economy turmoil – I just walked by their stand and almost got blinded by the opulence of fluorescent lights, flat screens and lit floor. I am not even getting started on the glamorous hostesses (I can’t believe they are actually NHS staff) helping conference attendees make their way through Choose and Book…
I haven’t had chance to attend any of the sessions yet as I spent the past hour trying to get connected to the world wide web - something that’s proven highly challenging at the ExCel Centre.
I was also too busy participating in the CPR Challenge organised by a health training company where participants have to perform CPR on a silicone mannequin for two minutes to get a chance to win an iPod. A computer analyses the rhythm and depth of the compressions to select the winner. There was a queue forming before the conference had even started…
I have to go as I realise it’s time for my Indian head massage on the Federation of Holistic Therapists’ stand… Sorry I mean I am almost late for the session on the NHS next stage review…