DELEGATES gathered from across the UK and beyond to attend the latest Oral Surgery Symposium at Southend Hospital.

It’s the third time such a conference has been held at the trust. This time around, it focused on the management of cysts of the jaw using advanced imaging and customised surgical planning - which is designed to remove very little bone in order to avoid a major operation. Its also keeps the risk of complications to a bare minimum.

The event attracted a high calibre group of speakers from King’s College Dental Hospital, in London, the editor of the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and a professor from Radbound University in the Netherlands. Guests, which included trainees, travelled from as far away as Spain.

Kandasamy Ganesan, consultant oral surgeon at Southend Hospital, who developed and organised the event with his colleagues, said: “This symposium was created to facilitate national networking and the sharing of the knowledge and experience to produce the best patient outcomes.

“It is becoming an important event in clinicians’ busy work calendars as it attracts the best speakers in the world.”

Mr Ganesan added: “This year we had 75 clinicians from all over the UK, trainees from Essex hospitals and also representation from Spain. In addition it was well attended by the management team here at the Trust.”

Money generated from the symposium is reinvested into equipment for the hospital department and was also used to update the existing audio system in the Education Centre Lecture Theatre.

Attendees at the symposium described the outstanding expertise and good range of speakers as well as the excellent presentations and organisation.