Plenary Speaker, September 11th

We’re delighted to welcome Dr Andy Ward as our plenary speaker on the first day of the conference.

Empathy in Healthcare: Evidence, Connection, and Transformative Practice

Empathy lies at the heart of meaningful healthcare communication, improving patient experience, clinical outcomes, and practitioner wellbeing.

This plenary explores robust evidence demonstrating the benefits of therapeutic empathy for both patients and clinicians, clarifies what therapeutic empathy means in clinical practice, and outlines simple, actionable ways to enhance empathic interactions. It also examines the role of empathy within healthcare teams and considers how empathy can be effectively taught and sustained within clinical education to support compassionate, human-centred care.

About Andy Ward

Dr Andy Ward is an Associate Professor in Medical Education and Honorary Senior Academic GP at the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare, Leicester Medical School. He develops innovative, evidence-based approaches to embed and sustain empathy across medical curricula and has presented his work internationally. He works clinically as a GP providing healthcare to people experiencing homelessness.