A global health conference held in Carlisle brought in more than £40,000 to the local economy over three days, organisers have revealed.
Now they have spoken of thier hope that the World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS) will return to the city next year – providing a platform of growing influence on part of the world health stage.
The event was held for the first time in March this year, taking place over three days at Carlisle’s Halston aparthotel.
The man behind WHIS is Gareth Presch.
Although Irish born, he fell in love with Cumbria after marrying local woman Krista Whelpdale, who wanted to return to her home county to start a family.
The pair have now settled in Great Corby with their two young daughters, and are both involved in WHIS.
Its broad aim is to promote and share new ideas to improve health services across the world.
Already he’s organised follow up events in London, Greece, Thailand, Mauritius and Brazil.
He’s also been in talks with other parts of Europe, Asia and Africa.
However although it has a global ethos, Gareth, who has a background in healthcare management and strategy, was always keen to hold the main event in Cumbria – to help put it on the map.
He has now confirmed that the annual summit – which features a combination of local speakers and experts from the UK and beyond – will return to Carlisle next March.
He is confident it will further build on the 2016 event, which he says generated at least £40,000 locally.
“It’s a conservative estimate. We had 300 people over the three days.
Some spent in excess of £800 – that’s all coming into our local economy. That’s why we wanted it here in Carlisle,” he said.
“People stayed in local accommodation, went out to eat, hopefully they liked it and will want to come back.”
Among those who travelled to Cumbria was speaker Ollie Hart, a GP from Sheffield, who took the opportunity to bring his family to Cumbria and stay for a whole week in the Lake District.
But Gareth added that it was not just those physically attending the event that heard about Cumbria.
The summit was also streamed online to a huge – and ever-growing – audience who follow WHIS on Twitter, Facebook and other social media channels.
“We had pictures from Carlisle going around the world,” he said.
“We’ve had great feedback. We’ve been mentioned in blogs. People are still talking about it. That never happens at a regular conference. Interest is really growing.”
Gareth said he wants to use all the connections they are building to raise the area’s profile and make Cumbria a centre for health excellence.
The vast majority of the people they work with are professionals in their field, including some of the top global health influencers.
Gareth was recently invited to the House of Lords to speak about his vision, proving it is attracting major interest.
With recruitment proving a growing problem for health and social care services across Cumbria, he hopes that NHS bosses will now see it as an opportunity to show the world what the county has to offer.
And they are also taking on practical projects – setting up local spin offs such as WHIS Kids and WHIS At Work, going intro schools and workplaces to help the improve health and wellbeing of those living in Cumbria both now and for the future.
“The local impact is something we really want, because that’s where we are based. These can then be rolled out across the UK to help alleviate pressure on the NHS through prevention,” added Gareth.
Simon Harrison, who runs the Halston, where the Carlisle summit was held, is pleased to see it returning next year.
He and his partners also a number of NHS properties, including Fusehill Medical Practice and Hilltops Heights, and he said the event had both benefits to the local economy and Cumbrian health services.
“There’s a massive sea change needed in the way the NHS operates. A lot of our clients who are GPs went to the event. To actually get people around a table talking about it is fantastic,” he said.
“It’s great that it’s been started in Carlisle and it has been supported by the community.
“Its principles are great, and its birthplace is here.
“A lot of people who came from outside were staying here.
“That was great to see, especially for the first event.”
[Source:- News & Star]
