The challenges ahead: Looking to a positive future

Our annual SAPHNA conference took place on the 12th of September. After feedback from members, we held the conference virtually and invested in a conferencing platform to improve delegate experience. We had an esteemed line-up of keynote speakers, a great array of good practice being shared in our workshop programme and sessions which focused on the importance of sharing research and innovation in school nursing. We are in the process of formally evaluating, however, the positive feedback that we have received in our inbox reinforces the value that the conference bought.

Every day we turn on our TVs and hear stories of how the NHS is facing mounting challenges. Funding constraints, reduced staffing, the inability to train enough staff and retain them, demand increasing and waiting lists growing. The challenges for public health are similar and arguably greater given the years of disinvestment and lack of importance given to prevention and early intervention. Our conference, ‘Looking to a positive future: strengthen, prevent, promote, protect’, aimed to refocus the profession and look forward. Our speakers were grounded in the reality of the here and now, however, gave challenge about how school nurses contribute to shaping, leading and delivering the public health role and improving outcomes for children and young people.