What does the future hold for the NHS? That was the hotly debated question at the Health Services Management Centre annual Health Policy Lecture held on 25 June.

A panel of experts tackled the subject in a stimulating conversation with practitioners, academics and alumni. Discussions ranged from leadership within the NHS to government bureaucracy and social health issues.

David Behan, Lord Victor Adebowale and Jacqui Smith, panel members at the HSMC Health Policy Lecture 2014 (Michele Paduano not pictured)

Photo caption: (l to r) David Behan, Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission, Lord Victor Adebowale, Chief Executive of Turning Point, and Jacqui Smith, Chair of University Hospitals Birmingham and former Cabinet Minister. Not pictured: Michele Paduano, Regional Health Correspondent for the BBC.  

Professor Jon Glasby said “The health policy lecture is an annual event, and usually takes the form of a traditional lecture with a small, senior invited audience. However, this year, the ‘lecture’ was part of the European Health Management Association (EHMA) conference which HSMC was hosting, and we took the opportunity to make the health policy lecture a very large, public panel debate, with David Behan (Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission), Lord Victor Adebowale (Chief Executive of Turning Point), Jacqui Smith (an NHS chair and former Cabinet Minister) and Michele Paduano (regional BBC health correspondent). With a mix of NHS leaders, health service researchers, students and European colleagues from the conference, the panel debated what the future may hold for the NHS as it moves towards a 2015 general election and beyond.”

More information and to view short interviews with Jon Glasby, David Behan, Victor Adebowale, Jacqui Smith and Michele Paduano.

Check out the conversations at #futureofNHS or on storify: http://t.co/ZF7IzZUjre