General practice has gained a new prominence this year and The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) annual conference is occurring when critical decisions have to be made to re-align the nation’s health system moving away from a hospital-centric model to patient-centred care, around a GP-led medical home.
1500 of Australia’s general practitioners and allied healthcare professionals will hear prominent keynote speakers talk about different facets of leadership at the RACGP’s national conference GP16 in Perth 29 Sep-1 Oct.
“The themes of the conference ‘Clinical, Digital, Leadership’ focus on important contemporary issues and I am delighted to welcome a diverse and exciting array of speakers,” said WA-based RACGP president, Dr Frank R Jones.
“The calibre of the program is first-class and the content being delivered is about passion, and embracing change,” Dr Jones said.
The annual RACGP conference is the event of the year for general practitioners and will provide a platform to discuss the issues and challenges facing primary health care.
GP16 speaker highlights include:
Rosie Batty - family violence campaigner and 2015 Australian of the Year was awarded the Pride of Australia’s National Courage Medal recipient for her outstanding efforts to stopping domestic violence following her own personal tragedy. She has since launched the Luke Batty Foundation to continue to confront this problem.
Christine Nixon - has been a leader in public service and knows it’s tough at the top. She was the first woman appointed to the position of Chief Commissioner of Police in any Australian jurisdiction and was with the Victorian Police during a time of enormous change. Christine will share her lessons and challenges at this year’s conference.
Dr Sam Prince- established his first business at the age of 21 while studying medicine. Since then his national chain of Zambrero restaurants has helped feed people suffering from malnutrition in developing nations over 4.5 million high protein, high vitamin meals.
Professor Mark Harris - is the research plenary speaker and is a leader of primary healthcare research in Australia with a broad range of research interests. He was awarded Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2015 and is continuing his leadership role in the Centre for Obesity Management and Prevention Research Excellence in Primary Health Care.
Federal Health Minister, Sussan Ley will address conference delegates at the opening plenary on Thursday 29 September and the Shadow Minister for Health, Catherine King, will speak on Friday 30 September.
While GP16 will address future changes in general practice and the need for GPs to look forward and serve patients best, the run-up to GP16 has been extraordinary.
“The RACGP has had a fantastic start to GP16 surpassing the number of delegate registrations sold at the same time last year,” said GP16 Convenor and Chair, Dr Tim Koh.
In addition, all the exhibition space (140 booths) has been sold. There are currently 37 sponsors on board comprising gold and silver sponsors, GPMHSC and Indivior respectively.
GP16 – the RACGP’s annual conference for general practice – runs from September 29 - October 1 2016 at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Visit the GP16 website for more information.