Call for Speakers closes on 12 February 2025
Making a difference, inspiring a generation
The International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare has a long history of invigorating the movement for patient safety and healthcare improvement. We do this by bringing in knowledge, ideas and expertise that inform quality projects and practice transformation, and by connecting health and care leaders, practitioners and consumers who are passionate about improving outcomes.
Our Call for Speakers allows you to be part of a movement to ignite change across healthcare networks on a global scale.
Apart from being able to share your work with an audience that has the power to make a real difference, you would build or increase your profile as an expert in your field.
Speakers who would like to discuss their quality improvement and patient safety experience and knowledge in Canberra in 2025 should submit their speaker proposal by 12 February 2025.
What are we looking for?
Speaker proposals can showcase an innovative project, run an interactive workshop or inspire a new way of thinking.
We welcome applications from across the healthcare sector and beyond, including non-clinicians, patients and carers, voluntary/social sector employees, students and first-time presenters.
We have a strong preference for content that:
- Is co-designed with or lead by consumers/patients
- Illustrates strategies facilitating interdependent approaches for achieving improvement within and across settings and systems
- Contains new and innovative ideas that have the potential to change the status quo
- Has a robust evidence base with reliable results
For Canberra, we are particularly interested in proposals that discuss:
- Patient-centred care: proposal will emphasise the importance of putting patients and carers at the heart of healthcare
- Systemic change: proposals will recognise the complexity of the healthcare system and advocate for a whole-system approach to improvement
- Innovation and collaboration: proposals will aim to foster innovation and collaboration among healthcare professionals and sectors to drive change (Primary, tertiary, public, private, Commonwealth, State and Territory)
- Equity and inclusion: proposals will address health inequities and ensure equitable access to healthcare for all
- Indigenous health: proposals will prioritise cultural safety and incorporate Indigenous knowledge systems into healthcare practices to improve health outcomes for Indigenous communities
- Workforce and leadership: proposals will aim to develop a skilled and motivated healthcare workforce
The topics you can submit to
The International Forum in Canberra will centre on the theme ‘Think differently, start small, have impact‘. You can read more about our theme here.
The programme will be structured under five content streams. As such, we would like to hear about projects and initiatives that show impactful results under these streams.
Safety
Understanding human factors, systems thinking, implementation methodologies and processes for digital and physical systems.
Presentations in this stream will look at:
- Systems and challenges
- QI and safety across regions
- Learnings from international care models and other industries
- First 2000 days, prehabilitation, critical rehabilitation
- Safety thinking
- Harm minimisation strategies
People
Integrating patients and citizens into planning, prioritisation, and decision-making is essential. By being present, embracing our shared humanity, and building meaningful connections, we can foster trust and collaboration. Through courageous, value-driven approaches, we have the opportunity to design systems that are equitable, compassionate, and effective for all.
Presentations in this stream will look at:
- Empowering Individuals in their health journey
- Value-based care / Co-Design, Co-production
- Private with public partnership potential
- Co-creating the power of patient experiences
- The future of healthcare by exploring advancements in digital health technologies, including telemedicine and data-driven care
- How the role of robotics in enhancing precision, efficiency, and accessibility in healthcare delivery
- Cutting-edge scientific innovations driving breakthroughs in diagnostics, treatments, and personalised medicine
- Integration and ethical considerations of high-cost therapies, ensuring equitable access to advanced care
Populations
The integration and collaboration of traditional hospital delivery, primary care, social care, and education is fundamental for delivering healthcare to populations and preventing illness and harm.
Presentations in the session will look at:
- Equity in healthcare provision
- Workforce and delivery of equitable outcomes
- Connection to Country
- Cultivating the space between individuals to foster stronger relationships, enhance collaboration, and deepen mutual understanding
Change
Understanding change and improvement in complex systems, behaviour change, organisational change.
Sessions in this stream will focus on:
- Exploring the interplay between health delivery systems and climate, emphasising the need for adaptive and resilient healthcare infrastructure
Examining the impact of climate change on population health, particularly through extreme weather events and their associated health risk - Explore emerging and innovative fields shaping the healthcare landscape, fostering adaptability and continuous improvement
Leadership
To explore effective leadership in the modern era of healthcare, leaders must navigate complex challenges and promote progress across multiple dimensions, including patient outcomes, population health, sustainability, cost, and staff well-being.
Presentations in this stream will aim to discuss:
- Leadership strategies for embedding healthcare innovation
- Encourage lateral problem-solving and greater engagement to empower healthcare workers in making informed, context-specific decisions for optimal patient care
- Embrace diversity by fostering inclusivity and leveraging the strengths of multigenerational teams with diverse perspectives.
- Practice compassionate leadership to support employee well-being, helping them maintain energy and humanity in high-stress environments like health and care
- Engage care recipients by actively involving them in decision-making, fostering trust, and prioritising their needs
- Create inclusive, innovative, and supportive workplaces that uplift employees, enhance care quality, and address social and environmental responsibilities
*Patient representation and lived experience
Submissions are expected to be co-produced with patients, service users, consumers, citizens and carers wherever possible. We have representatives on these groups in all our planning committees, and are working to increase the representation of these groups as speakers and delegates.
Notifying you
You will be notified of the outcome by end of March 2025. Please note the email address that you supply when submitting your proposal will be the email address used to correspond the results of your submission. If you change email addresses during this time, please let us know so we can update your records.