23/10/2025
Continuing our coverage of last month’s conference, we pick back up on our first full day of Lessons from the Frontline, which had a particular Ukraine and International focus.
We were honoured to have the conference opened by Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi. His address was urgent and compelling: telling of the stark situation for Ukrainian soldiers and civilians alike, and the need for exploration and discussions such as the ones we were embarking on that day to ensure not only that we fully understood, but that we could better prepare ourselves and the sector for the reality of modern warfare. We are so grateful to him for taking the time to speak to us.
We were also thrilled to be joined by the Provost and Deputy President of Imperial College London, Peter Haynes, and Kate Davies, the Director of Health and Justice, Armed Forces and Sexual Assault Services Commissioning for NHS England to start the day.
Our first talk was from the Superhumans Center Team, a groundbreaking centre for war trauma specialising in prosthetics, reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation and psychological support for war-affected adults and children. Again, we were honoured to have Stepan Kuchabskyi, Danylo Turkevych and Oksana Zelinska join us to share what they’re seeing – injury patterns, the gaps in provision and then to further explore challenges and triumphs over their past 3 years of operation. It was incredible to see some of the cutting-edge work they’re undertaking in the circumstances they are having to work in.
The rest of the day was spent unpicking challenges such as large-scale casualty response, enduring care for war-affected populations, and the long-term management of war casualties. A huge thank you to our speakers Hailie Uren of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, Mike Prentice of NHS England and Andy Kent of TReC, who kindly sent us an update direct from Ukraine. We would also like to thank Jonathan Leach OBE of NHS England, George Chewning of USUVB, Anthony Bull of Imperial College and David Wightwick of UK-Med for their invaluable insight.
To close day 1, Ben Hall, journalist and author of ‘Saved’, spoke profoundly about his experiences getting injured, rescued and his subsequent road to rehabilitation whilst covering the war in Ukraine for FOX news. It was a stark reminder of the realities of everything we had explored throughout the day, a message of hope and positivity, and further proof of just how vital enduring, effective care is for those injured at war – civilian and soldier alike.
Thank you ever so much for all who attended, joined online and to all of our speakers across day 1 – it was a compelling day which will stay with us all for years to come. 🇺🇦🇬🇧
