BARNA has held an Annual Conference since 1987. This is the record of recent meetings — the programmes, the speakers and the topics that shaped each year.
Friday 5 June 2026 · Bush House, King's College London
A full day across airway management, paediatric practice, research careers and education, opening with the 2025 Difficult Airway Society guidelines and closing on current topics in airway management. The programme also carried a dedicated abstracts session showcasing work from members.
| Time | Session | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 08.30–09.00 | Registration, coffee and exhibition | |
| 09.00–09.10 | Opening comments | Katie Bagstaff and Jane Nicholas |
| 09.10–10.00 | Introducing the 2025 new DAS guidelines | Dr Imran Ahmad FRCA |
| 10.00–10.45 | Communicating with children with complex needs, and with their parents | Claudia Iorio |
| 10.45–11.15 | Coffee and exhibition | |
| 11.15–12.00 | RCN – Nursing globally: our opportunities, challenges and the art of the possible | Marcus Wootton |
| 12.00–13.00 | Lunch | |
| 13.00–13.45 | NIHR – Fellowships and grants: making research part of clinical practice | Misha Denise Virtudazo |
| 13.45–14.45 | Paediatric non-operating room anaesthesia and sedation | Alison Popa |
| 14.45–15.15 | Abstracts session | |
| 15.15–15.30 | Tea and exhibition | |
| 15.30–15.50 | Resuscitation guideline update | Peter Chell |
| 15.50–16.15 | Education – Assessment in the AI era: innovation, integrity and impact | Anya Benton |
| 16.15–17.00 | Current topics in airway management | Dr Mary Madden |
| 17.00 | Closing remarks |
Friday 25 April 2025 · St Thomas' Hospital, London
A programme combining managerial, clinical, education and quality assurance content, designed to cover the needs of all grades across anaesthetic and PACU practice. Delegate rates were £55 for members, £95 for non-members and £20 for student members.
| Time | Session | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 08.00–09.00 | Registration | |
| 09.00–09.10 | Welcome, introduction and house rules | |
| 09.10–09.55 | Using the RCN Nursing Workforce Standards to support safe and effective care | Lena Johnson, Royal College of Nursing |
| 09.55–10.35 | An introduction to neurological observations | Elizabeth Sauntson and Tina Bedford, Cambridge University Hospitals |
| 10.35–11.05 | Coffee and exhibition | |
| 11.05–11.45 | Paediatric emergence delirium: a quality improvement project | Isabel Diez Martin and John Paul, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital |
| 11.45–12.25 | Enhanced Perioperative Care (EPOC): a new pathway for surgical patients | Emma Matthews, Nottingham University Hospitals |
| 12.25–13.20 | Lunch | |
| 13.20–14.00 | From crisis to control: effective management of anaesthetic emergencies | Peter Chell, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust |
| 14.00–14.45 | Inadvertent perioperative hypothermia: are we getting it right? | Daniel Brannan, Solventum |
| 14.45–15.00 | Tea | |
| 15.00–15.45 | AI and virtual reality: impact on peri-anaesthesia clinical training | Maria Discalicau and Dr Paul Kelly |
| 15.45–16.25 | Peri-anaesthetic practice: your vision for the future | Katie Bagstaff, Cambridge University Hospitals |
| 16.25–16.30 | Final remarks and close |
One hour of CPD was awarded for each session, with sessions comprising 45 minutes of participatory learning followed by discussion. Time spent in participatory learning, plus any further reading delegates went on to do, counted towards the 35 hours of continuing professional development required for NMC revalidation.
Photographs by Dan Smedley.
Friday 7 June 2024 · St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH
Theme: Changes and Challenges in Peri-Anaesthetic Practice
The first Annual Conference held since 2019, returning after the pandemic. The same year BARNA developed its Adult PACU Competency Framework.
The Annual Conference ran in Birmingham from 1987, moved to Brighton in 2003 and to London in 2008. These are the most recent meetings before the current run.
The conference scheduled for 19 June 2020 at the Birmingham and Midland Institute was cancelled, then rescheduled for 18 June 2021 and cancelled again. Virtual presentations were offered in their place. An online autumn study day was held on Friday 3 November 2023 in place of a conference, before the Annual Conference returned in 2024.
The last Annual Conference before the pandemic.
The second of three consecutive conferences held at Greenwich.
The first BARNA conference at the Queen Anne Building, Greenwich.
BARNA hosted the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists congress in Glasgow, with delegates from all over the world. BARNA has been the UK representative body for IFNA since 1995.
Full written records of BARNA conferences and study days, compiled by the association.