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Top Picks Interview Series: Acute Network
Ahead of NHS ConfedExpo 2026, we spoke with Sonia Nosheen, Assistant Director of the Acute Network at The NHS Alliance, to find out what she's looking forward to, and why colleagues in acute services shouldn't miss this year's conference.
What are you looking forward to most at NHS ConfedExpo 2026?
I’m looking forward to NHS ConfedExpo for the opportunity to learn from best practice across the NHS, hear about national priorities and innovations and network with peers working on similar challenges across acute and integrated services.
Why should people in acute services attend NHS ConfedExpo 2026?
People working in acute services should attend NHS ConfedExpo to engage with national thinking on some of the most pressing issues facing hospitals, including flow, elective recovery and urgent and emergency care. It provides a space to learn from system leaders, share real-world experiences, and identify practical approaches that can be applied locally.
Looking at the programme, what are you most looking forward to and why?
Looking at the programme, I’m most looking forward to the sessions that focus on partnership working and system collaboration. Acute services cannot address many of the challenges we face in isolation, and these sessions provide an important opportunity to explore how hospitals, community, primary care and wider partners can work together.
Are there any other sessions you are looking forward to attending?
Reaching into neighbourhoods to reduce conveyance: tackling unnecessary UEC demand from care homes. This session demonstrates how acute trusts, ambulance services and community partners can work together to reduce avoidable admissions and pressure on urgent and emergency care.
Shaping systems from the edges. This session explores how change often happens through collaboration beyond traditional organisational or hierarchical structures.
Improvement through connection: harnessing peer learning and networking for system change. This session focuses on how system-level collaboration and shared learning drive improvement across organisational boundaries.
Are there any speakers you are looking forward to hearing from?
I’m looking forward to hearing Sir James Mackey to better understand the national direction of travel and what system reform means in practice for acute providers operating under sustained pressure.
What advice would you give someone who is attending NHS ConfedExpo for the first time?
Plan, but stay flexible. It helps to identify a small number of priority sessions, while also leaving space to follow conversations and networking opportunities.
What are you hoping to take away from the conference?
I’m hoping to come away with practical ideas and fresh thinking on how acute services can work more closely with partners to tackle shared challenges, improve flow and deliver better outcomes for patients.
Sonia Nosheen
Assistant Director, Acute Network, The NHS Alliance
You can keep up to date with Sonia on LinkedIn here.
To view the full agenda for NHS ConfedExpo, click here.