‘Shared decision making will become the norm: no decision about me without me’, Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS, White Paper.

The recent White Paper on health states that patients should be in charge of their own care and that decisions should be made in partnership with clinicians rather than by clinicians alone. Shared decision-making has the potential to improve health outcomes and patient satisfaction and to save costs. To be successful it requires not only that health professionals have the tools and skills needed to engage and inform patients in decisions about their care, but also that systems of care need to change.

This conference will:

• provide an overview of how shared decision-making may develop and of its potential for improving care and saving costs
• feature practical examples from projects that are achieving shared decision-making, focusing on the specific tools used and how care pathways have been designed to enable this
• allow delegates to question and discuss with expert speakers and peers the challenges and benefits of shared decision-making.

Opening session

• Keynote: understanding shared decision-making and how it can empower patients
  Sir Muir Gray, Chief Knowledge Officer of the NHS, Department of Health
• Shared decision-making and the QIPP Right Care programme
  Dr Steven Laitner, GP and Associate Medical Director, NHS East of England and National Clinical Lead for Shared Decision Making (Quality and Productivity, Department of Health)
• Patient Activation and informed choice
  Dr Anna Dixon, Director of Policy, The King's Fund

Session 2: enabling shared decision-making

• Tools to enable shared decision-making
  Dr Henriette Coetzer, Vice President and Medical Director - Global, Bupa Health Dialog
• Online Patient Decision Aids: empowering people to make informed choices and improve quality of life
  Emma Walker, National Head of Business Development, NHS Direct
• CHESS and interactive support for patients
  Dr Elizabeth Murray, Senior Lecturer, Primary Care, University College London

Session 3: Workshops

Practical workshops will include the following.

• Engaging with patients and professionals: The Expert Patients Programme 
  Simon Knighton, Chief Executive, The Expert Patients Programme CIC
• A whole systems approach to shared decision-making
  Co-Creating Health Programme, The Health Foundation

Session 4: How can shared decision-making be embedded into the NHS?

Expert panel speakers will include:

• Dr Angela Coulter, Director of Global Initiatives, Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-Making
• Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive, Macmillan Cancer Support
• Natalie Grazin, Assistant Director, The Health Foundation
• Rebecca Owen-Evans, Policy Adviser, Which?

Keynote speaker

• Sir Muir Gray, Chief Knowledge Officer of the NHS, Department of Health

Speakers will include:

• Dr Angela Coulter, Director of Global Initiatives, Foundation for Informed Decision Making
• Dr Henriette Coetzer, Vice President and Medical Director - Global, Bupa Health Dialog
• Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive, Macmillan Cancer Support
• Natalie Grazin, Assistant Director, The Health Foundation
• Simon Knighton, Chief Executive, Expert Patients Programme CIC
• Dr Steven Laitner, GP and Associate Medical Director, NHS East of England and National Clinical Lead for Shared Decision Making (Quality and Productivity, Department of Health)
• Dr Elizabeth Murray, Senior Lecturer, Primary Care, University College London
• Rebecca Owen-Evans, Policy Adviser, Which?
• Emma Walker, National Head of Business Development, NHS Direct

• chief executives and chairs of primary care and acute trusts
• directors of primary care and acute trusts
• patient and public involvement leads in primary care trusts
• commissioners of services
• clinicians
• nurses
• GPs and practice managers
• voluntary and independent sector providers
• patient organisations
• professional bodies, policy-makers and regulators
• service improvement and change teams