What was available for those who attended?

Attendees will leave with a practical framework for turning problems into action. I’ll share lessons on identifying the right problems to solve, navigating early resistance, working with stakeholders, and scaling safely within healthcare. Most importantly, I hope people leave feeling that innovation is something they can engage with — not something reserved for others.

I'm sure surgeons would rather be in operating rooms than courtrooms, but having a basic understanding of the broad legal concepts that govern medical liability and how they might apply in a future AI-driven surgery case can help resolve some of the uncertainty surrounding the legal implications of AI integration in the future of surgery.

I'm really looking forward to connecting with surgeons to better understand the surgical aspects of AI in medicine, now and in the future. As a former litigator and current academic, I want my research on AI liability in medicine to examine real problems and have practical relevance, and I cannot do this without connecting and collaborating with medical practitioners.

If you've ever wondered how genomics is going to benefit you as a surgeon, my session if the one for you. We will aim to explain all the terms that don't make sense, and to make you an expert in surgically relevant genomics.

This is extremely relevant, as genomics will be as routine as blood tests are for us now - understand it will help improve care for your patients.

Surgical innovation may occur in a vacuum and learning is limited. There have been numerous high profile scandals where innovation has gone wrong. Currently it is often unclear how best to oversee the introduction of something new. My session will provide a clear talk about how to innovate safely

My particular interest is on the impact of adverse events on surgeons. Surgeons are profoundly affected when things go wrong but they are often ill prepared for this and existing support mechanisms are often inadequate. We will consider whether and how surgeons can be prepared for this inevitable aspect of surgical life.

I’m looking forward to sharing ideas with colleagues who are also passionate about supporting colleagues. My vision for surgery in 2030 is that all surgeons in training will spend some time thinking about how they might be affected when things go wrong and how they might better prepare, and that all hospitals run a peer support programme for surgeons to help them navigate the impact of adverse events.

My session will explore how robotic and digitally enabled technologies are expanding what is surgically possible, using transoral robotic surgery as a real-world example of how innovation moves from preclinical development into early clinical practice. I’ll focus on what this means for complex surgery, training, and adoption at scale.

Attendees will gain a grounded understanding of where robotic surgery, including transoral robotic approaches, genuinely adds value, what the real barriers to implementation are, and how to engage with innovation without compromising patient safety or outcomes.