We enjoyed a fantastic and engaging AGM on Saturday 4 July - thank you to everyone who joined us online from the UK and further afield! So that everyone has an opportunity to see what was covered, we have captured the main points of the event below, and for members, you can head over to the online forum to watch the AGM videos online (log-in required).
AGM 2026 Agenda
It is always a challenge to get a year's worth of activity into 60 minutes, but we gave it a good shot! Chair of Trustees, Dom Hargreaves, reinforced the importance of a strong trustee board to undertake the governance of the charity and to lead on strategy, before Cathy Thompson, Director, gave an overview of some of the current projects underway at the ADSHG.
In addition to these ongoing projects, we updated you on:
- Bringing ACT-O-VIAL® to the UK
- Progressing with our Advocacy Campaign for an improved emergency injection
- Raising awareness of adrenal crisis for A&E reception and triage staff
To stay up to date on all the latest ADSHG projects and news, join our charity! Membership not only means you can attend special events like this AGM, but provides you with expert support, through our magazine, emails, online forum, and a range of resources to make everyday life easier.
You'll be part of a supportive community who truly 'get it', have opportunities to support research, and help give our charity a stronger voice. We can't carry out this vital work without your support! So join our mission and become a member today.
Deana Kenward Award presented to volunteer Noel Hawks
We were delighted, and more than a little emotional, to present long-standing volunteer and friend of the charity, Noel Hawks, with the Deana Kenward Award 2026 during the AGM.
The award is just a tiny token of our appreciation for his outstanding efforts over more than two decades since he first joined the ADSHG in the early days of the charity. His contributions have been immeasurable, and he has earned true legendary status! Thank you Noel, for everything!
If you would like to get involved with the charity, explore the link below:
Answers to some of your Questions
During the AGM, our wonderful members raised questions on key issues, all answered live by our Trustee and Staff Teams. Topics ranged widely, covering:
- Petitions to drive improvements in emergency injections, through to queries about our online shop prices
- Funding for research, through to immunotherapy and adrenal insufficiency
- How many people are hospitalised with adrenal crisis, through to how the AC-RESCUE study results will be fed back to the ADSHG community
- We were delighted to answer the majority of members' questions on the day, either live or via the Q&A box – so do watch the AGM videos to catch those answers. For any we didn't get to, we've replied directly on the online forum with key links to follow-up articles or further information.
To watch both the AGM recording and the AC-RESCUE presentation by Dr Ling, become a member today and head over to the online community (forum) for the 'on demand' videos.
Already a member? Log in and click to watch direct!
Links shared during the AGM
Below we have provided a list of the resources we signposted to during the AGM, in response to questions asked:
- Prescription Frequency Resources
- The Future of Emergency Hydrocortisone Injections for Adrenal Crisis
- NICE Guidelines for the Identification and Management of Adrenal Insufficiency
- Online ADSHG Shop
- 2026 John Wass Research Grant Award Winners
- CoMICs Lite Episode 1 What is Addison's Disease
- Your Experience of Preventing & Managing Adrenal Crisis: Survey
AC-RESCUE Presentation and Q&A session (Dr Ling & Dr Kempegowda)
We were delighted to welcome Dr Punith Kempegowda, Clinical Associate Professor in Endocrinology at the University of Birmingham and Dr Amanda Ling, QEH Birmingham, to our 2026 AGM, to share with us their research proposal and progress to date.
Adrenal Crisis (AC) RESCUE is a national project aiming to establish structured surveillance models for endocrine emergencies, beginning with adrenal crisis and hyponatraemia (abnormally low sodium levels in the blood). These are high-risk but under-recognised conditions that are associated with both significant morbidity (suffering as a result of a health condition) and mortality (a risk of death).
Despite the existence of clinical guidelines for adrenal crisis management (NICE Guidelines for the Identification and Management of Adrenal Insufficiency), there are widespread variations in quality of hospital care across the UK for adrenal insufficiency patients in adrenal crisis, and very little auditing or feedback mechanisms that could help improve the quality and consistency of services.
The RESCUE study seeks to address this gap by:
- Creating scalable, cloud-based data collection platforms for routine clinical audit.
- Capturing patient and clinician experiences to inform person-centred improvements.
- Developing educational interventions using SIMBA (a simulation-based medical initiative) and CoMICs (another medical education initiative creating bite-sized videos) to enhance knowledge and consistency of care.
This initiative has the potential to improve patient outcomes and support a national learning health system model in endocrinology, and the ADSHG are proud to have awarded this research study the 2026 Professor John Wass Research Grant (£10,000) in June of this year.
Our attendees have given the presentation 9 out of 10 in their feedback:
First class piece of actionable research, likely to have significant impact. Really well presented
Want to hear more?
Watch Dr Ling's full presentation, plus the Q&A with Dr Ling and Dr Kempegowda, on demand via our online forum (log-in required). It's a fascinating look at how this research is working to reshape adrenal crisis care across the UK, and you'll also find written answers to the questions members asked online and contact details if you'd like to reach out to the researchers about getting your hospital involved.
Being part of the ADSHG Community
Thank you for what you do! At times when it's so hard to get a diagnosis, and when emergency care is so precarious, it's good to know you are keeping an eye on things.
We asked attendees at our AGM to share some feedback with us, and are proud that you have given us an overall rating of 9.4 out of 10 for our online AGM event.
Attendees commented that it was:
...A well structured and informative meeting. It gave me a better understanding of some of the issues I have seen in the newsletter and has prompted me to be more pro active, e.g. to write to my GP about 3 month prescriptions and I also intend to write to my MP using your template letter.
"...so well organised with clear and concise presentations by the team. I was interested to hear more about the RESCUE project."
The online format for an AGM feels just right. I thought the RESCUE information and research was fascinating.
"Very professionally run with a strong and interesting agenda"
If you came along to our AGM and haven't had a chance to share your thoughts on the event, please do fill in our feedback form - we'd love to hear from you!