Royal College of General Practitioners - Online Learning Environment

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This webinar was funded by Sandoz UK. Sandoz were asked to suggest speakers and topics however, full editorial control remains the sole responsibility of the RCGP. 

This is a recording of a live conference that took place on Friday 27 March 2026. This recording will be available to view until 13 December 2026.

The 30th Managing addictions in primary care conference took place on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 March 2026 in Liverpool. 

Join us and celebrate our 30th anniversary as we bring together pre-eminent experts in the field of substance and behavioural addiction, and offer you the opportunity to listen, learn and network with more than 300 healthcare professionals across the field.

From beginner guides to specialist advice, personal accounts to big picture thinking, - our plenaries and workshops offer something for everyone with an interest in addiction services.   

This conference will reflect on the challenges and improvements over the past thirty years and look forward at how we can improve medicine and support for patients and service users. The programme covers a range of topics both specialised and holistic, and has evolved with the ever-changing addiction care landscape. Alcohol and drug related deaths are at an all-time high in the UK*. This is why harm-reduction, tackling the stigma around addiction to encourage more people to seek help, and understanding how health inequalities impact additions are central focuses this year.   

The standard of the presentations this year was exceptionally high and [] I learned a great deal of new information plus talking points to make me think. Good for networking too. 2025 conference attendee, specialist in addiction psychiatry, Wales, UK.

Increase your knowledge and understanding of:

• Current interventions for the prevention, assessment and treatment of alcohol, other drug problems and behavioural addictions. 
• The requirement for both primary care and specialist interventions, and when to use them.
• Drug and alcohol policies in the UK and how they are implemented in primary care.
• Links between multiple needs, health inequalities and substance misuse.
• The challenges, improvements and primary care work in this area over the last 30 years. 

Sponsored by:

 

               

    

Available until 18 December 2026.

This is a recording of a live conference that took place on 1 July 2026. This recording will be available to view until 10 April 2027.

Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) is an increasingly vital component of modern general practice, with growing recognition of the role of physical activity in both prevention and management of long-term conditions.

This interactive one-day conference will explore how you can break down barriers to physical activity, empower your patients to take control of their health, and deliver evidence-based care for common musculoskeletal (MSK) and sports-related conditions. Through expert-led sessions, case-based discussions, and practical guidance, you will gain confidence in managing MSK presentations, supporting behaviour change, and working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams.

Key themes include promoting exercise as medicine, adopting a biopsychosocial approach to MSK care, addressing the impact of obesity and lifestyle factors, and optimising management pathways for common conditions such as low back pain and sporting injuries. This course is ideal for GPs and primary care clinicians seeking to enhance their skills in SEM, improve patient outcomes, and integrate physical activity more effectively into everyday practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore how to promote physical activity and preventative care with your patients
• Gain confidence in delivering patient education and promoting self-management
• Common sporting injuries
• Learn to facilitate and enhance effective multi-disciplinary team working

Topics include:

• Lower back pain and physical activity
• Barriers to physcial activity
• Nutrition
• Behaviour change conversations
• Physical activity in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• Osteoarthritis and physical activity
• Impacts of the obesity crisis

Conference Chair:

Dr Sarah Dyche MRCGP, Salaried GP at Rosedale Surgery, ECCH GP Associate

The evolution of diabetes care in primary care has never been more dynamic. Over the past two decades, we’ve moved from a narrow glycaemic lens to a truly cardiometabolic approach, with powerful therapies, better risk stratification, and a renewed focus on remission and patient‑centred outcomes. Yet, the day‑to‑day realities—initiating injectables, navigating pregnancy, supporting young people, and delivering sustainable lifestyle change—remain challenging at the front line.

This conference is a one‑day, case‑based, practical conference crafted for GPs, GP registrars, practice nurses, clinical pharmacists, paramedics, and the wider primary care MDT. Across the day, you’ll gain concise algorithms, prescribing and monitoring checklists, referral triggers, and language/behavioural strategies that make consultations smoother and outcomes better. Join us for pragmatic, up‑to‑date, and patient‑centered learning—designed to support safe, equitable diabetes care across the life course.

 Learning objectives

By the end of the conference, delegates will be able to:

• Summarise the major changes in type 2 diabetes care since 2003, including cardio‑renal risk reduction, weight‑centred management, and personalisation of therapy.
• Prioritise first‑ and second‑line therapy choices using a cardiometabolic framework (atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, obesity, hypoglycaemia risk, and patient preference).
• Identify appropriate candidates for GLP‑1 receptor agonists in type 2 diabetes and for weight management, considering indications, BMI/eligibility, and comorbidities.
• Initiate and titrate GLP‑1 receptor agonists safely in primary care, anticipating common adverse effects (gastrointestinal intolerance, dehydration risk), mitigating them with practical counselling, and monitoring response.
• Have an introduction to practicalities of starting insulin e.g select when and how to start insulin (e.g., basal-first), set personalised glycaemic targets, and apply simple up‑titration algorithms aligned to self-monitoring of blood glucose/continuous glucose monitoring data.
• Differentiate pre‑existing diabetes vs gestational diabetes and outline preconception, antenatal, and postnatal priorities (folate, medication safety switches, glycaemic targets, ketone education).
• Recognise red flags and use clear referral/escalation pathways between primary care, diabetes in pregnancy teams, and obstetrics.
• Recognise presentations of diabetes in children/teens (including Diabetic Ketoacidosis red flags) and act on urgent referral thresholds.
• Support ongoing care in primary care (screening, vaccination, psychosocial considerations) and facilitate safe transition planning with paediatric and young adult services.
• Explain evidence‑based approaches to type 2 diabetes remission (e.g., low‑calorie/total diet replacement and low‑carbohydrate strategies) and select who is most likely to benefit.
• Embed behaviour‑change techniques and culturally sensitive counselling to improve adherence, metabolic health, and long‑term weight maintenance.
• Apply practical checklists for medication review, polypharmacy, and deprescribing opportunities (e.g., when weight loss allows treatment simplification).

Topics

• A guided tour of the key shifts from 2003 to 2026—what’s genuinely changed e.g guidelines, what still matters, and what to do next and help your patients.
• The practicalities of starting GLP‑1 receptor agonists (for type 2 diabetes and weight management).
• The practicalities of starting insulin safely in primary care.
• Diabetes in pregnancy.
• Diabetes in children and teenagers.
• Type 2 diabetes reversal and lifestyle management—turning evidence into realistic action in real clinics.

Conference chair

Dr Vinesh Sobha MRCGP, GPwER in diabetes and Diabetes UK Clinical Champion

This is a recording of a live conference that took place on 23 April 2026. This recording will be available to view until 21 January 2026.

Lifestyle medicine is a global medical discipline, teaching clinicians behavioural techniques to support patients with some of the root causes of ill health. These include assessing and addressing financial stress, poor mental wellbeing, social isolation, inactivity, poor quality food, poor sleep/shift work and harmful substances or behaviours such as smoking, alcohol, vaping and harmful tech use. Lifestyle medicine provides one-to-one assessment and support but requires wider public health population level interventions. The aim of these interventions is to prevent, treat and potentially reverse ill health whilst minimising the need for long-term medications.

The RCGP have analysed feedback following the overwhelming success of the first Lifestyle medicine ODE in April 2025 to develop a more rounded understanding of the subject area. This One Day Essentials Lifestyle medicine conference will describe lifestyle medicine practice and how it is applied in everyday clinical practice for GPs. The conference will cover the RCGP GP with extended role in lifestyle medicine pathway, the evidence for lifestyle medicine and where it sits with population and public health, how this practice can be used to reduce health inequity, avoid over-diagnosis and over-prescribing.

This year’s focus is on how to help people to improve sleep, reduce loneliness and isolation, address tech harms in particular amongst children.

Learning objectives:

• Define lifestyle medicine
• Describe how public health and population health interventions can be complemented by lifestyle medicines one-to-one support
• List the evidence for lifestyle medicine interventions, particularly for child health
• Develop skills to assess and intervene around the pillars of lifestyle medicine in particular around social isolation, tech harms and sleep
• Describe how lifestyle medicine can be used to address inequity
• List how lifestyle medicine can improve sustainable practice
• Describe how art and time in nature can improve health outcomes

Topics: 

• What is lifestyle medicine and introduction to RCGP GP with extended role in lifestyle medicine
• The evidence for lifestyle medicine and how it works with public and population health
• Lifestyle medicine is sustainable medicine and can improve planetary health
• Social prescribing, green space, art, sleep interventions and reducing harms from tech including social media
• Lifestyle medicine and health inequalities
• Interactive session sharing practical tips on how to fit a lifestyle assessment into a short consultation

Conference chair:

Dr Ellen Fallows, GP and expert in obesity and lifestyle medicine

This is a recording of a live conference that took place on 2 February 2026. This recording will be available to view until 19 November 2026.

Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions account for up to 30% of general practitioner consultations, representing a substantial clinical workload and a significant societal burden. MSK problems often persist longer than many other conditions, leading to reduced quality of life and wider socioeconomic impact. GPs are pivotal in early recognition, accurate diagnosis, effective management, and preventive care for MSK presentations, helping to minimise disability and support long-term health and wellbeing.

This One Day Essentials conference equips primary care professionals with practical, evidence-based skills to confidently assess and manage MSK conditions in a time-pressured GP setting. Delegates will gain up-to-date knowledge on management of musculoskeletal conditions across the ages, prevention strategies, and the role of physical activity as both a therapeutic and preventive intervention.

Learning Objectives:

• Strengthen diagnostic confidence by recognising common and important MSK presentations, distinguishing mechanical, inflammatory, and systemic causes, and applying effective history-taking and examination techniques in primary care.
• Improve examination skills for MSK conditions 
• Enhance management strategies in MSK conditions seen in primary care
• Optimise patient outcomes through practical approaches to patient education, self-management support, safe physical activity promotion

Topics include:

• Gout
• Physical activity
• Chronic pain
• Paediatric rheumatology
• Osteoporosis
• Back and hip
• Shoulder and knee

Conference Chair:

Dr Jean Wong MRCGP, GP and RCGP eLearning fellow