With Best Practice Birmingham and Respiratory Professional Care now just one week away, attention is turning from what is on the programme to what will make it into your personalised agenda. 

Choosing sessions from across two days inevitably means leaving plenty out, but here are a few sessions that are particularly relevant to some of the clinical, operational and strategic questions facing primary care this October.

Type 2 diabetes prevention in primary care: spotting risk early and changing outcomes  

Clinical Theatre 1 

Bringing together Dr Rangan Chatterjee, Dr David Unwin and Dr Amy McKenzie, this session has an obvious draw, but the subject itself is what earns its place on the list. 

Type 2 diabetes prevention remains a significant part of the primary care workload, and the opportunity to identify risk before disease progresses raises questions around metabolic health, lifestyle intervention and what meaningful prevention can look like in practice.  

With three different perspectives coming together, this should be a particularly interesting discussion around earlier intervention and what that could mean for patients already showing signs of risk. 

In conversation with Amanda Doyle - Neighbourhood healthcare in practice: why it matters and what it means for primary care 

Neighbourhood Delivery Theatre 

Neighbourhood health is now a day-to-day conversation across primary care. We know the theory, but what delivery looks like in practice remains a question on many minds. 

Dr Amanda Doyle OBE, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services, joins Professor James Kingsland, Clinical Professor of Primary Care, to look at what the neighbourhood agenda means for primary care as it develops. 

This is where some of the bigger questions can be tested. What will neighbourhood working ask of practices and PCNs? Where are responsibilities changing? What should those leading services be paying attention to now?  

This is one to make room for if neighbourhood delivery is already part of the conversation in your area. 

CQC compliance for practices: update and top tips for 2026 

PMA Theatre 

CQC compliance is one of those areas where knowing what has changed is only part of the challenge. Practices also need to understand what those changes mean for governance, everyday processes and the decisions they are responsible for getting right. 

Martin Norton, Practice Manager and Independent Consultant, will bring that into focus with an update on CQC compliance for 2026, alongside practical guidance on the areas practices should be paying particular attention to. 

This is a chance to check current approaches, identify where greater attention may be needed and take questions directly to someone who understands the realities of managing compliance within general practice. 

Digitalmania: battle of the GP IT superusers 

Smart Practice Theatre 

The newly branded Smart Practice Theatre puts the practical use of technology firmly under the spotlight, and 'Digitalmania' should bring a little healthy competition to the conversation. 

Chaired by Dr Hussain Ghandi - Shanker Vijayadeva, Ayaz Damani and Dr Devin Gray will put GP IT systems to the test, drawing on how they use them in practice. 

Expect shortcuts, different ways of working and perhaps a few features you didn't know existed. This isn't about what digital technology might eventually do; it's about getting more from the systems already sitting in front of primary care teams every day. 

Asthma update 2026: applying guidance without increasing workload 

Respiratory Clinical Theatre 

Now, over at our co-located Respiratory Professional Care event, Dr Steve Holmes will tackle a familiar challenge: keeping asthma care aligned with current guidance without creating additional work for already busy teams. 

The emphasis here is firmly on application. What has changed, what needs attention during routine asthma care, and where can adjustments be made without adding unnecessary complexity? 

With asthma reviews spanning general practice, nursing and pharmacy, there should be plenty to take back into everyday care, as well as the opportunity to put questions directly to an experienced GP working in the field. 

Start building your agenda 

Across the two days there are clinical updates, practical skills, workforce discussions, management sessions and respiratory education competing for the same diary space.  

Our advice at this point is simple: start looking at the programme before you arrive. Pick the sessions you don't want to miss.  

Best Practice Birmingham and Respiratory Professional Care return to the NEC on 7-8 October 2026. We look forward to seeing you there!