First look at Digital Health Summer Schools 2026 programme
This article was first published on Digital Health.
Digital Health has published a ‘first look’ at this year’s Summer Schools programme, which takes place on 16-17 July at the University of Nottingham.
The conference has a revamped format which doubles down on small-group and interactive sessions to provide attendees with more practical insights and deeper knowledge exchange.
Key themes explored in this year’s programme include:
- Power, influence and accountability: digital leadership in 2026 and beyond
- From innovation to impact: scaling what actually works
- Balancing innovation, safety and ethics in the AI era
- Building effective NHS-supplier partnerships
- The 10 year health plan: one year on
Themes for the various workshops across the two days include leadership and workforce, with topics such as ‘how to succeed at board level as a CIO’, ‘what does the NHSE announcement on professional registration mean for me?’, and ‘digital transformation: tools and techniques to bring the whole organisation along with you’.
Other workshop themes include digital transformation delivery, data and interoperability, clinical risk and governance, systems and architecture, and the business of digital.
Professor Kathrin Cresswell, professor of digital innovation in health and care at the University of Edinburgh, was one of the first speakers to be announced for Summer Schools 2026.
Three senior digital leaders shaping and delivering large-scale NHS transformation were also announced at the same time in March:
- Andy Callow, chief digital and information officer at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Hayley Grafton, group chief nursing information officer (CNIO) at University Hospitals of Leicester and Northamptonshire and chair of the Digital Health Networks CNIO Advisory Panel
- Dr Penny Kechagioglou, chief clinical information officer (CCIO) at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and chair of the Digital Health Networks CCIO Advisory Panel
Earlier this month, two speakers from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) were also revealed.
Marie-Anne Ledingham, consultant clinical adviser at NICE, and Tharni Vasavan, horizon scanning senior health technologies lead at NICE, will discuss the expansion of their technology appraisals programme, which launched in February.
Summer Schools 2026 is the premier learning and networking event for digital health leaders. It is exclusively for members of the Digital Health Networks, the UK’s largest health IT community and is open to current and aspiring digital health leaders.
The social programme includes a pre-event BBQ and middle-night dinner, where the winners of the Digital Health Awards will be revealed and the top-ranking person of the inaugural Digital Health Impact List will be honoured.
The event is supported by Networks sponsors AWS, Better, CereCore, Dell Technologies and AMD, InterSystems, Microsoft, Nervecentre, and Salesforce.
Prices start from £399 +VAT. Attendees can save just under £100 on a full two-day ticket (worth £659) by using the discount code NOTT15 when registering before 15 May 2026.
Secure your place today and register here.
