Elizabeth Palfreman, Head of Hospice Support at Hospice UK, explains how directors of income generation can benefit from attending the charity’s national conference this year.
When I worked as a director of income generation at a member hospice I wasn’t offered the opportunity, nor did I actively seek to attend Hospice UK’s National Conference. It tended to be seen as something more suitable for clinical staff and I had more than enough on my plate to argue otherwise.
Now, as I am embarking on my fifth conference as a member of the Hospice UK team I’ve been reflecting on what I wished I’d known about the event when I was working locally.
- This year’s conference has a broad focus that includes the business of running a hospice. We’ve made a conscious effort to widen the topics under discussion with sessions on workforce, workplace culture, and resilience in fundraising.
- The conference offers the opportunity to raise your head above the parapet and sense how the hospice environment is rapidly changing. Because of the demands of the day job it’s not always easy to find time to do this. However, the conference provides a unique opportunity to hear from those within and beyond the sector about what is happening in the wider healthcare arena. Many of those discussions will affect the amount of money you’ll need to raise in the future, so come, listen and join in the conversation.
- Hospices are closing. During my 14 years in the sector the rate of change has never been so fast and the environment so challenging. The ‘Evolution or Revolution’ agenda challenges us all to ensure that we have hospices fit for the future. As directors of income generation you’ll leave the event with new knowledge and information to inform discussions and debate back in your workplace, and with your supporters.
- Time away from the coalface will refresh you and challenge your current mindset. Attending sessions on topics that you don’t encounter on a daily basis will help broaden your thinking, stimulate the brain cells and assist you in understanding your colleagues’ challenges and pre-occupations.
- Finally, if you have ambitions to lead a hospice then attending a national event with wide-ranging content will keep you abreast of what is happening across the sector. An increasing number of directors of income generation are becoming hospice chief executives. While there may not be a direct correlation between attendance at the National Conference and claiming the top job, what those successful candidates have in common is an enquiring mind and the ability to deal with issues outside their own professional specialism.
Add to these reasons the opportunity to network with your peers, catch up with old friends, and make new ones, and all the evidence suggests that the place to be for a director of income generation is Liverpool between 20 – 22 November 2019. See you there.
For more information visit Hospice UK National Conference – Dying for Change
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