Here we have an overview of the past events organised by the Health Sciences Records and Archives Association.  Proceedings from the conferences are available to members in the document library.

2019 Conference: Cardiff

The 2019 conference took place at the voco St David’s Hotel and Spa in  Cardiff, UK on 9th and 10th May. Following the success of the previous year’s workshops, we again ran two pre-conference workshops on the topic of data integrity and on GDPR. The main conference included a thought-provoking presentation from Andy Fisher, Lead Inspector at the MHRA, insights into the EMA Working Party on electronic archiving and presentations on artificial intelligence and document automation, to name just a few. It was also great to hear some case studies of real-life records management projects.

2018 Conference: Brighton

The 2018 conference took place in the Mercure Seafront Hotel in Brighton on 25 – 27 April.  This year two workshops were held on the day before the conference started: Managing Electronic Records and TMF Essentials.  The main conference covered the following topics:

  • RegulatoryHSRAA Annual Conference 2018 Venue
  • Document Management
  • Digital Archiving
  • GxP Data Integrity
  • Legal and Intellectual Property
  • GDPR

2017 Conference: Manchester

Manchester hosted the 2017 conference for SAG/HSRAAThe 2017 conference took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Birmingham on 27-28 April. A range of topics covered included:

  • Expert speakers from the NHS and industry
  • Expert analysis on the implications of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for life sciences
  • MHRA and industry presentation on current topics such as Data Integrity and Information Governance

2016 Conference: Birmingham

Birmingham hosted the 2016 conference for SAG/HSRAAThe 2016 conference took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Birmingham on 21-22 April. A range of topics covered included:

  • Expert speakers from the NHS
  • Thought-provoking keynote presentations from acclaimed records management professionals
  • Parallel tracks on: “Clinical Records Management” and “Pre-clinical Records Management/Archiving”

2015 Training Workshop: Birmingham

Birmingham hosted the 2015 Training Workshops for SAG/HSRAAThe 2015 Autumn Workshop Programme took place at the Arden Hotel in Birmingham on 21st and 22nd October 2015, with in depth workshops over the two days covering the topics of:

  • Business continuity and disaster recovery planning
  • Record retention scheduling
  • Managing Electronic Records

2015 Conference: Cardiff

Cardiff hosted the 2015 conference for SAG/HSRAAThe 2015 conference took place at the St. Davids Hotel in Cardiff Bay on 16-17 April. A range of topics covered included:

  • Management and preservation of digital records
  • Migration of records
  • Responsibilities of the sponsor and the site (workshop)
  • Managing ‘dark data’
  • Change management
  • MHRA perspective on archiving of electronic records

The presentation materials are available to members in the Document Library.

2014 Training Workshop: Reading

Reading hosted the 2014 training workshops for SAG/HSRAAThe workshops, hosted by Eldin Rammell and Russell Joyce, proved an engaging event that covered:

  • records classification, exploring the concepts of records management, the importance of meaningful classification, pitfalls and myths, and regulatory requirement;
  • change management, identifying and understanding the nature of change, types of change, issues around change, and mechanisms for improving the chance that change will be successful; and
  • electronic records, taking an in-depth look at a range of topics, including file formats, storage media, regulatory perspectives on electronic records, digital preservation approaches and reflections on technical solutions and continuing challenges.

The interactive nature of the workshops encouraged a culture of participation leading to wide-ranging discussions and the sharing of plenty of experiences at individual tables and among the wider audience. Feedback from delegates was overwhelmingly positive and the event a great success.

2014 Conference: Nice

The 2014 conference took place on the 1-2 May in Nice. Topics covered included:

  • Electronic archiving of emails and clinical trials records
  • Non-commercial clinical archiving
  • Compliance requirements for document scanning
  • Cloud computing
  • Health and Safety in the archives
  • Environmental control in archives

Autumn 2013 Conference: York

York was the venue for the 2013 autumn SAG/HSRAA conferenceAn entertaining and informative conference took place at York on 16th-17th September.

Spring 2013 Conference: Edinburgh

Edinburgh hosted the 2013 spring conference for SAG/HSRAAThis event was held at the George Hotel, Edinburgh on the 18th and 19th April, and included a series of sessions

  • Workshop 1: The Role of the Clinical Archivist/Records Manager
  • Workshop 2: The Role of the PreClinical Archivist
  • Workshop 3: Content of the TMF
  • Workshop 4: Preparation of documents for archiving
  • Digital Archiving & Preservation – What do I need and how do I start?
  • Challenges and solutions to long-term records retention and access
  • Archiving of Electronic Records Guidance Document
  • Regulatory update
  • MHRA Good Clinical Practice Guide

Autumn 2012 Conference: Bristol

Bristol hosted the 2012 SAG/HSRAA ConferenceThe 2012 Autumn conference was held in Bristol, at the Royal Marriott hotel. The theme of the conference was Electronic Archiving and the topics covered included:

  • Digitization of documents
  • The role of PDF/A
  • Regulatory background to archiving electronic records, including an MHRA speaker
  • Systems and processes involved in electronic archiving

Spring 2012 Conference: Cambridge

Cambridge hosted the 2012 SAG/HSRAA Spring ConferenceThe Spring 2012 conference was held in Cambridge on 19th-20th April. There was an interesting range of presentations including:

  • Auditing a contract archive
  • Documenting training
  • Practical hints and tips on destroying records
  • SOP administration