A safe patient care conference, facilitated by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, took place recently in University College Cork. The conference and poster display was run from Wednesday 7^th to Friday 9^th of September inclusive. The aim of the course was to provide a specialised learning opportunity to enable healthcare workers from all disciplines to enhance and increase their knowledge of infection prevention and control, thus improving patient care. The conference had Category 1 An Bord Altranais approval and Continuous Professional Development accreditation by the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland.

The poster display included posters pertaining to health protection and patient safety produced by local practice development, infection prevention and control and public health teams. Posters from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health were also displayed. No attendance fee was charged due to funding provided by the Cork and Kerry Infection Prevention and Control Committee.

Professor Ivan Perry and Maura Smiddy, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, at the close of the Safe Patient Care Conference 9^th September 2011

There were sixty nine attendees from both the Acute and Community healthcare sectors. Lectures were mainly delivered by local healthcare professionals working in the area of health protection. Thank you to all those who facilitated lectures for sharing their time and expertise. Copies of  the lectures delivered can be  downloaded here.  Evaluation of the conference by attendees was positive and it is hoped to run the conference again next year. The conference was co-ordinated by Maura Smiddy with administrative support provided by Linda O’ Connor, Aoife Healy and Martin Davoren.

Maura Smiddy, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College Cork