Announcing our programme – 'Raising the Bar for MS: Past, present… Future.'

The programme you've all been waiting for is finally here!

This year, Raising the Bar for MS is focussing on looking back at where we've been, taking stock of our present circumstances and what we have learned in the past 6 months, and collectively reimagining a future which best meets the changing needs of those with MS and the world in which they live.

Our three-day programme, taking place during the evenings to make it more accessible, will bring together inspirational clinical leaders and specialists in their fields. Caroline Clarke, CEO of the Royal Free who herself has MS, is set to bring a unique combined perspective on day 1 when she discusses the expectations that a person with MS has of both their services and the support needed to effectively self-manage.

Practical presentations on remote management through the spectrum of disease, and the use of vaccines in MS sit alongside personal development lectures around leadership and building mental resilience, with inspirational speaker Dr Brian Marien guesting on day 2.

Finally, leaders of the national workstreams that you have helped develop will share how these streams have evolved over the past year, and will invite you to draw on this learning and utilise the outputs so far.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, we were talking about raising the bar for MS by 'doing things differently'. Our world has shifted dramatically, and the way we care for ourselves and each other has too. We cannot raise the bar by elevating existing services if they do not fit with the future we are travelling into.

We must rebuild and adapt elements of our services in a new way without losing what still works well. We need to focus on what we have learned over the past months and use it purposefully.

Together, we must reflect, build our resilience, and begin to redesign the future. #RtB2020

This activity has been supported by sponsorship from Roche Products Ltd, Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd, Sanofi Genzyme and Biogen Idec Ltd. The sponsors have had no control over the educational content of this activity.