Wales Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry Conference 2026

This was the first time the Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry in Wales have held their annual Conference in North Wales. To kick things off, a business meeting and pre-conference dinner were held the evening before, providing a fantastic opportunity to meet and reconnect with colleagues of all grades from across Wales.

The conference itself was well attended by over 40 psychiatrists of all grades, with Wrexham Medical Institute providing an excellent venue for a day of dynamic speakers. 

In the main conference room, eight sessions ran throughout the day, beginning with a keynote by Rhian Bowen Davies, the Older persons Commissioner for Wales. Her passion for working to support older people in Wales and to reduce / eradicate Ageism was evident in her speech. 

The national Old Age Faculty Chair, Dr Mohan Bhat, highlighted workforce and recruitment issues alongside insightful statistics to illustrate the landscape of old age psychiatry across Wales and the UK. Other important topics covered were the importance of new diagnostics and biomarkers available in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease (Dr Bob Barber) and how to assess dysexecutive functioning in alcohol use / alcohol-related brain damage (Prof Julia Lewis), which has an impact on capacity assessments for these patients. 

In a room just off the main lecture theatre, eight A1 posters were displayed from trainees across the UK who had entered the conference’s poster competition. The trainee posters were excellent, with the first and second place winners (Dr Nathanael Bean and Dr Charlotte Rees-Roderick) giving insightful presentations in the main conference room.

The new dementia care pathway being developed in Wales by Dyfodol was also discussed by speakers from the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (Dr Hebah Bhatt, Dr Laura-Louise Arundell, and Ollie John). The final topic of the day was a Neurology update for Old Age Psychiatrists (Dr Rhys Davies), which was very interesting and entertaining. 

Overall, the conference provided a fantastic day with good networking between colleagues not just from Wales, but across from England too. Thank you to everyone who came along and we look forward to doing it again next year.