The 2017 Professional Development Forum of the Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals (AHCP) will be held at Slaley Hall in Hexham, Northumberland, from 7th-9th June 2017.
Hosted this year by the Northern Branch, the Forum will present a mixture of formal presentations from industry experts and interactive sessions with the emphasis on providing information of use to delegates in their daily roles.
Interactive sessions for the 2017 programme focus on team building and staff communication. Tracey Cooper, assistant director of nursing – infection prevention, and Gwen Scotson, head of hotel services, both with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, will explore where responsibility lies in cleaning duties and how this impacts on the functionality of an organisation.
Management consultant Ray Potts will outline the importance of listening skills and non-verbal communication. The final interactive session will focus on lean management and facilities services.
Dr David Bull returns as the Forum Chair after debuting in the role at last year’s event. Well known as a TV presenter, he was also a full time NHS doctor for three years.
Steph Whitehead, head of communications & marketing for St Oswald’s Hospice, will tackle the positive use of social media, including getting information out to the right audience and providing a responsive service.
The changing face of employment will be scrutinised by Lisa Kelly, a solicitor with Muckle Solicitors and former senior HR adviser in the NHS and Chris Jukes, a senior organiser from GMB, looking at both the employee and employer perspectives.
Lorraine Larman, chairman of Trailblazer’s Apprenticeship and a member of BICSc for over 16 years, will outline the new apprenticeship programme and how it will work, especially for those having to deliver it at grass roots level within healthcare.
Other sessions will focus on infection control, cleaning facts and figures, training and the growing Bloodbikes Services.
The programme will be supported by an exhibition where suppliers will demonstrate the latest products and services for the healthcare cleaning sector.