24th June 2026 | Forgotten Patients, Overlooked Diseases

Enduring Symptoms:

From patient voices to solution-driven care

A 1-day hybrid CPD approved conference

Wednesday 24th June 2026

The Royal College of Physicians

11 St Andrews Place, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4LE

This one-day conference will bring together leading voices from healthcare, academia, policy, and lived experience to explore the complex challenges of enduring symptoms and the opportunities for meaningful change. Through expert presentations, practical insights, and thought-provoking discussion, the programme will examine current understanding, highlight gaps in care, and showcase innovative approaches that can improve outcomes for patients. Attendees will leave with fresh perspectives, greater awareness, and actionable ideas to help shape more compassionate, evidence-based, and solution-driven care.

Topics included:

09:00-09:30: Registration
09:30-09:40: Welcome and introduction to the topic of enduring symptoms. Dr. Adrian Tookman and Dr. Asheesh Sharma, clinical lead for outpatients, Care Quality Directorate.

Part 1: Setting the scene

09:40-10:00: The patient journey and how stories can illuminate what really matters to individuals – Dr. Pip Hardy and Tony Sumner
10:00-10:20: Navigating the patient-physician dynamic through the lens of antiphospholipid syndrome – Tracy Jallow BEM and Dr. Minha Rajput-Ray
10:20-10:40: Where does the patient journey go wrong: contrasting experience of a patient with a common cancer and a rarely diagnosed disease – Christianne Forrest
10:40 -11:00: Ethics of care for people with enduring symptoms. Ass. Prof. Chantal Patel
11:00-11:10 Discussion

11:10-11:30 Break

Part 2: Finding solutions

1130-11:45: Patient data and Jess’s Rule; who will it help. Richard Stephens
11:45-12:15: The pain consultation and how to survive it. Dr Benjamin Ellis MBE
12:15-12:45: Enduring symptoms; The psychiatrist’s view. Dr Amrit Sachar
12:45:13:00: The challenge of terminology and the importance of making diagnostic doubt visible. Dr. Adrian Tookman

13:00-13:40 Lunch

Part 3: Moving forward

13:40-14:10: Keynote: Problems and Solutions of Care for People with enduring symptoms. Dr. John Dean
14:10-14:40 Enduring symptoms: Indicators of disease and/or entities in their own right. A challenge for patients and professionals. Prof. Chris Burton
14:40-15:00 Enduring Symptoms; A neurologists view. Dr Ania Crawshaw

15:00-15:20: Break

15:20-15:50: Enduring symptoms. Why are women disproportionately affected?
15:50 -16:50: Panel Discussion: How do we move the issue of enduring symptoms forward? Practical suggestions, resource issues, research, medical education. Prof. Bill Noble, Dr Lucy Foulkes, Dr Camilla Harris & Dr Vadivelu Saravanan

16:50 Summary and close
17:00 Finish

For in-person attendance

For online attendance

Speaker Bios

Dr Asheesh Sharma is a Consultant Nephrologist based in Liverpool and currently serves as Clinical Lead for Outpatients at the Royal College of Physicians. He is also Co-Clinical Lead for the North West Kidney Network and has held a number of senior leadership roles within the NHS, including Clinical Lead for Nephrology and Associate Medical Director for Clinical Effectiveness. Dr Sharma studied Physiological Sciences at Jesus College, Oxford and completed a PhD at the University of Liverpool. He has a strong interest in improving outpatient care, kidney services and healthcare quality across the UK.

Dr Adrian Tookman is a retired Palliative Medicine Specialist (2022). He currently serves as Trustee and Chair of Forgotten Patients, Overlooked Diseases. He has dedicated his career to Palliative Care with a particular interest in Oncology, Rehabilitation and management of complex symptoms in people with advanced, progressive illness. He has been Medical Director of the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead, Medical Director of The Royal Free Hospital and Field Editor for Cochrane Palliative and Supportive Care

Prof. Chris Burton is General Physician and a researcher primarily involved in persistent physical symptoms and functional somatic disorders. He currently leads the Health Service Research Centre of the Sheffield Centre for Health And Related Research at the University of Sheffield. His current work builds on the success of Multiple Symptoms Study 3 and seeks ways to improve patient outcomes.

Tracy Jallow BEM is an expert patient at Kings College London and patient educator. She is a recipient of the BEM in the New Years Honours List 2023. She passionately advocates for raising awareness regarding invisible disabilities, chronic pain and fatigue through her own experience with Antiphospholipid syndrome.

Dr Minha Rajput-Ray is a clinically trained doctor focused on the root cause of the illness. She is a founding member of the Need for Nutrition Education Programme and has founded the Curaidh Clinic and currently is the Physician-Scientist and Medical Director there. She has been a recipient of the Mobbs Corporate Fellowship, the Golden Jubilee Fellowship of the Society for Occupational Medicine and the MNI Award at the European Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition

Dr Pip Hardy and Tony Sumner are co-founders of the Patient Voices Programme, established in 2003 in an effort to bring about greater humanity and compassion in healthcare through the telling and sharing of stories from patients, carers and the people who care for them. Their work has been recognised by several awards, including the BMJ’s Award for Excellence in Healthcare Education; the John Horder award for Innovation in Interprofessional Learning and the Medical Journalist’s Health Champion of the year finalist.

They are also Honorary Fellows at Durham University’s Institute for Medical Humanities, where they have recently completed two-year bridging research fellowships.

Christianne Forrest is a former language lecturer who is a patient member of the Forgotten Patients, Overlooked diseases charity. She is an experienced patient advocate, having worked with various bodies including Nice and Breast Cancer Now, where she has been a volunteer for over twenty years. She won a National award for volunteering in 2022. She has her own lived experience as a breast cancer survivor and someone living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, amongst other conditions.

Richard Stephens is a survivor of two cancers and a heart emergency along with other health issues. He chaired the NCRI Consumer Forum 2012-19, BBMRI-ERIC's Stakeholder Forum 2018-22, and useMYdata 2019-26. He is founding co-editor of BMC Journal of Research Involvement and Engagement, and currently chairs Cancer Research Advocates Forum UK, among other national and international roles.

Dr Benjamin Ellis MBE has worked as a consultant rheumatologist and clinical director for outpatient transformation at Imperial College Healthcare for more than 10 years and is also a chair at Limmud. He has been awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours List for 2024 for his services to health care and the Jewish community. He is a founding trustee of KeshetUK

Dr Amrit Sachar has been a Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at West London NHS Trust since 2006 and is the Joint Presidential Lead for Equity and Equality at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She is the mental health representative on the North West London Whole Systems Integrated Care Pioneer Site’s Expert Advisory Group, and was psychiatry course lead at Imperial Medical School for seven years.She specializes in integrating mental health into long-term physical conditions and championing EDI initiatives.

Ass. Prof. Chantal Patel is a Medical Law Lecturer at Swansea University where she advocates for fair treatment within the NHS. Beginning as a nurse in Wales, she quickly rose to become one of the youngest ward sisters, demonstrating early leadership and excellence. She has chaired the Welsh chapter of UNESCO Bioethics and the Clinical Ethics Committee.

Dr John Dean is a retired Physician who worked as the Clinical Vice President at Royal College of Physicians for more than 8 years and the Deputy Medical Director at East Lancashire Hospital NHS Trust. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for patient and family involvement in care delivery and design.