🎄December News ✨

A news roundup of events and activities in NHS-OA Community and beyond

NHS-OA Community Activity Round-Up

As the year draws to a close, we’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone in the NHS-OA community. Your time, care, and willingness to support one another have made this space what it is, and we’re truly grateful for all that you contribute.

We recognise that this time of year can mean different things to different people, and we hope that whatever the coming weeks hold for you, there’s an opportunity for rest, reflection, and looking ahead. Thank you for being part of this community, and we look forward to connecting again and building something wonderful in the new year!

RPySOC Conference Feedback Report

We’ve summarised the responses we had to our feedback questionnaire from RPySOC 2025 - thanks again to everyone who contributed! You can read the report here.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Join our committee! Have your say!

Please fill in this short form if you would like to be part of the new NHS-OA Committee - we need voices from across the spectrum of career stages, backgrounds, skill sets and interest areas to build a thriving and robust Open Source community. Filling in this form does not commit you to anything, it is just so we can add you to our committee mailing list for the first meeting, which is 13th January at 4-5pm.

Events 2026

What events can I attend?

Please be advised that attendance at workshops is restricted to employees of the NHS, public sector, civil service, voluntary sector, charities and academia only. However, note that it is very rare for webinar attendance to be restricted unless requested by the host. Conferencing events are open to everyone.

RAP drop-ins 😎

We’re taking a bit of a Christmas break to recharge, so the next Strategy Unit RAP Drop In will be on Wednesday 14th January 2026 at 10:00-11:00 GMT on Teams, if you’d like to come along, please register your interest here.

To ask a question before the session, take a look at our brand new RAP Drop In repository Discussion section!

Coffee and Coding ☕

Do you have an interesting piece of code/work you would like to share with the NHS-R Community? Would you like help with some code you are currently working on? Is there an opportunity for collaboration that you would like to share? We would love to hear from you at our Coffee and Coding session!

To sign-up for the Coffee and Coding sessions, please visit the NHS-R Community website.

If you have code, a piece of work or project and/or an opportunity for collaboration that you would like to discuss, please contact us via the NHS-R Community inbox (nhs.rcommunity@nhs.net).

You can watch previous Coffee and Coding sessions via our YouTube Channel!

Volunteers!

We are seeking volunteers to host/co-host webinars and/or workshops throughout the year. This is a fantastic opportunity to share your knowledge and skills whilst building a community of practice for data analysis and data science using open-source software. It also counts towards your evidence for application for Fellow status!

If you would like to volunteer, please email the NHS-R Community inbox (nhs.rcommunity@nhs.net).

If you would like to recommend someone within your network to contact, please email the NHS-R Community inbox or drop us a message via LinkedIn.

Please note that additional information regarding the NHS-R Community, workshops and webinars can be found on the NHS-R Community website and NHS-R Community Way book.

Upcoming Conferences and events from other communities

• North East Data Scientist Meetup JANUARY 29, Newcastle

”We’re delighted to welcome you to our first meetup of 2026! Speakers to be confirmed in the coming weeks...Pizza and soft drinks will be provided on a first-come-first-served basis from 6pm as usual. There will be no pre-event workshop this time, so please do not arrive before 6pm!”

• Digital Health Rewired MARCH 24-25 Birmingham

“The UK’s number one event uniting NHS leaders, teams and innovators to shape the next decade of digital healthcare.”

• DevOpsCon MAY 11-15, hybrid

“The Conference for CI/CD, Kubernetes, Platform Engineering & DevSecOps”

• AI in Production JUNE 4-5, Newcastle

“Join us for the first instalment of the Jumping Rivers AI in Production conference!”

• NHS ConfedExpo JUNE 10-11, Manchester

“NHS ConfedExpo is the UK’s leading health and care conference, dedicated to driving innovation and improving care for patients and the public.”

• Waiting List Conference 2026: From Backlog to Breakthrough JUNE 10-11 London

“We’re excited to announce the NHS Waiting List Conference, taking place on 10–11 June 2026 — a landmark event dedicated to one of the NHS’s most complex and urgent challenges: elective care waiting lists.”

• Digital Health World Congress MAY 26-27 London