Page 8 - QARANC Vol 14 No 12 2016

6 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Evaluation from DANS symposium 2015
DANS Symposium 2015 was held 14 – 15 May in the Churchill Hall, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The focus was on transformational leadership and governance, ‘A Conceptual Refresh’, and over 300 QARANC Regular, Reserve and Retired members of the Corps attended. Our Colonel-in-Chief the Countess of Wessex, the Deputy Commanding General (Operations) U.S. Army Medical Command, DGAMS, Senior members of the NHS, RCN and many other friends of the Corps were also present.
Attendees were asked for their feedback and we received 117 completed evaluation forms (note to self for 2016 not to allow anyone to leave until evaluation forms are handed in!). The feedback was overwhelming positive but as ever there were things we could do better.
So what went well? There were some great comments about the conference and speakers. I have included some general comments below to provide a flavour:
‘The best DANS conference I have ever attended. Super speakers, thank you.’
‘The programme was excellent, relevant and inspiring. Very well organised. Good discussions for revalidation.’
‘First time at DANS symposium. Enjoyed it, will certainly prioritise this for the coming years.’
For those who were unable to attend a list of presentation titles, speakers and specific feedback is listed in the table below.
Ser.
Presentation title
Speaker(s)
Comments
1.
Key note address – Be all that you can be!
Maj Gen J Keenan
An excellent start to an excellent symposium! Superb! Love this; Inspirational. Dynamic, energising, relevant and motivating.
2.
Leadership plans for the AMS/ DMS
Brig M Nadin
Informative; Interesting; Motivating; enjoyed it. Theoretical input always worth refreshing.
3.
Army Nursing Vision
Col D Bates
Excellent. Set the scene to build on. Good to know our direction of travel.
4.
Transition to A2020 – Rebalancing / restructuring
Lt Col A Lewis
Excellent; Clear & Succinct; Informative.
Good to know the future development of Corps.
5.
Meeting the challenge of the Army’s persistent engagement overseas
Col T Rowland
Excellent presentation, very informative, I’m sold. Humorous but informative.
Good to hear how things have developed from last year.
6.
Adapting the Vanguard– committed and engaged
Col S Archer
Superb; Enjoyable and informative; Made me proud to be a QA.
Proof of what we can do!!
7.
Lessons Re-learnt – Op GRITROCK
Lt Col M Bailey
Honest; Inspirational; Exceptionally useful. Heartfelt, relevant and with deep enthusiasm for the subject.
8.
Commanding in the 21st Century Mission Space
Lt Col A McCourt
Gritty and real insight, thank you; Leadership in action. The public airing of the challenges of command was refreshing.
9.
Revalidation Project Update
Col K Irvine
Relevant. Valuable question time.
Interesting, especially for those not in direct clinical care.
10.
US Army Nurse Research Programme
Col S Breckenridge- Sproat
Fabulous, engaging, dynamic, informative and inspiring. A good model for getting nursing research into practice.
11.
In the Company of Nurses
Prof Y McEwen & Cpl Pounder
Interesting and thought provoking. I feel inspired to get the book.
12.
Wounded, the Afghan Cohort
Dr E Mayhew & Col D McArthur
Relevant; Would like to hear more.
I am sure you will agree that there was some fantastic feedback and some well-deserved praise for our speakers. So what could we do better? Well, there was some very direct
feedback about what we could do better. The key points with our responses are in the box opposite.
Lt Col Gary Kenward