The UK Stroke Forum 2025 (UKSF25), held at P&J Live in Aberdeen, wasn’t just another medical conference. It felt more like a full-system gathering for everyone involved in stroke care where clinicians, researchers, commissioners, industry partners, and people with lived experience all in the same space, actively talked to each other rather than sitting in separate silos.

With 1,598 delegates, it ended up being one of the most ambitious and well-received editions of the Forum to date. And more importantly, it felt practical, collaborative, and genuinely human.

What we were aiming for

The whole event was built around three simple ideas:

• Bring the whole stroke pathway together in one place

• Keep lived experience at the centre, not as an “add-on”

• Make sure people left with things they could actually use back at work

That last one mattered. A lot of the programme was designed so delegates weren’t just inspired, they were also thinking, “I could take this straight back to my service on Monday.”

Using the venue properly, not just filling it

P&J Live is a big, flexible venue, and we didn’t just stick to the usual “conference rooms + exhibition hall” setup.

We actively reworked the space, so the exhibition areas became part of the learning experience too. That meant more places for conversation, more informal discussions, and less of the traditional “sit, listen, leave” flow.

The overall effect was a conference that felt spread out but connected, always something happening, always somewhere to go.

Plenaries: big topics, but grounded in real life

The main plenary sessions covered the big national issues in stroke care, service redesign, research developments, and system pressures.

But what really stood out was how often lived experience was woven into the programme. Instead of being a separate segment at the end, patient and carer voices were embedded throughout.

That made a real difference. It kept the science grounded in what actually matters: what happens to people.

Parallel sessions: less theory, more “here’s how”

Across prevention, acute care, rehab, nursing, imaging, digital health, and life after stroke, there was a clear shift towards practical delivery.

A lot of the sessions focused on:

• What’s actually working in real services

• How people are implementing changes on the ground

• What you can realistically take back and try

That “doable” focus came up again and again in feedback.

Getting people talking, not just listening

We also deliberately moved away from standard lecture-heavy formats.

Instead, there were:

• Fishbowl discussions

• Live debates

• More open, facilitated conversations

It made sessions feel more like discussions between peers rather than one-way presentations. That shift mattered as it changed the energy in the room.

Posters: turning research into conversations

With over 400 posters submitted, research visibility was a big part of the event.

But instead of just lining them up and hoping people wandered past, we added structure:

• Digital screens to improve visibility

• Traditional posters still present for depth

• Guided poster tours led by experts

The tours, in particular, worked really well. They turned posters into mini-presentations and gave researchers a proper chance to talk about their work.

The exhibition: more than just stands

We tried to make the exhibition feel like part of the learning experience, not a separate “trade show corner”.

A few key areas helped that:

• Sustainability Zone – focused on environmental thinking in healthcare

• Soapbox Stage – short, sharp talks that drew steady crowds

• Cinema Zone – videos, demos, and storytelling content

It made the space feel active and social, not static.

Day 0: 300 students and a lot of energy

One of the standout parts of UKSF25 was the outreach day before the main conference.

We brought in 300 school pupils to experience stroke education in a very hands-on way:

• FAST awareness training

• Imaging demonstrations

• Rehab tech showcases

For many of them, it was their first real exposure to healthcare in action, and it clearly landed. The feedback from teachers and students was excellent.

It also reminded everyone at the conference that this work isn’t just about today’s workforce, but tomorrow’s too.

Beyond the conference: local impact mattered too

There were a few other things running alongside the main programme:

• Training sessions with Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland for venue staff and stakeholders

• Student placements supporting AV, IT, filming, and daily content

• A student-produced daily newspaper about the conference and Aberdeen

These weren’t add-ons, they genuinely helped connect the event to the local community.

Getting people there (especially from Scotland)

We knew location would matter, so the marketing was quite targeted.

We:

• Promoted UKSF25 at UKSF24 in Liverpool

• Worked closely with NHS Grampian and Aberdeen Convention Bureau

• Created pre-event videos with local clinical and destination voices

• Ran segmented campaigns for different professional groups

• Pushed regional messaging across Scotland specifically

That approach worked. We saw strong engagement overall, and 23% of delegates came from Scotland, which was the highest we’ve ever achieved.

What people actually said

The feedback across the board was very consistent.

Lived experience stood out most

People described those sessions as powerful and grounding. It wasn’t just “nice to have”, it shaped how people understood the rest of the programme.

The mix of content worked

Delegates liked that sessions weren’t purely academic or purely practical, it was a mix of both, with strong multidisciplinary input.

Networking really improved

The layout and extra informal spaces meant people actually talked to each other more. There were not just planned meetings, but delegates held spontaneous conversations.

The venue worked

P&J Live was praised for being easy to navigate, comfortable, and flexible. That might sound basic, but it made a real difference to the experience.

What made UKSF25 work

Looking back, a few things really drove the success:

• Strong partnership with P&J Live and UK Stroke

• A programme designed around real-world application

• Proper integration of lived experience throughout

• Spaces designed for interaction, not just seating

• High engagement across all areas of the event

Everything felt connected rather than separate.

Final takeaway

UKSF25 showed that a clinical conference doesn’t have to feel rigid or siloed.

When you design it properly, it can feel more like a working community coming together, sharing ideas, challenging thinking, and actually focusing on how to improve care in practice.

And that’s probably what people will remember most: it didn’t just talk about stroke care, it felt like stroke care was being actively improved in real time.