Another successful and thought provoking NCAS is over. If you weren't able to attend in person, we hope our army of tweeters, audiobooers (there has to be a better word than that!) and guest bloggers gave you a flavour of the conference - both in the run up and during the event itself.
We made it our goal to cover each and every Department of Health led (or co-led) session, as well as fringe meetings and other sector partner events relevant to the department's work.
To this end, we trust you had a sense of the intensive work and support available for implementation of the Care Act from April 2015. There is reason to be optimistic, with news delivered in one session that 97 percent of local authorities are reporting their readiness to deliver the reforms from that date.
More good news came in announcements from Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt and Minister for Care and Support Norman Lamb: pooled budgets for integrated health and care have surpassed the originally ring fenced £3.8 billion of the Better Care Fund. The total pooled funds now stand at £5.3 billion - a testament to the will and resolve amongst integration pioneers and the wider sector to combine and maintain integrated health and social care services.
Meanwhile, the Chief Social Worker for Adults Lyn Romeo had a good conference week with the launch of her first annual report and a successful joint session on social work reform with the Chief Social Worker for Children and Families Isabelle Trowler and Chief Executive of the College of Social Work Annie Hudson.
Their combined resolve to embed new standards and improve the quality of training and support for new social workers resonated well with delegates.
Lastly, improving mental health services for the young and otherwise vulnerable achieved justifiable prominence this year, with sessions focusing on crisis care and the new Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing (CYPMH) Taskforce. This new grouping, co-chaired by our Director General for Social Care Jon Rouse and NHS England Clinical Director for Long Term Conditions Martin McShane has been tasked with finding strategies to commission and sustain better mental health services for this historically under-served cohort.
To relive the NCAS experience you have a choice of 16 audioboo files to choose from as well as three storify summaries kindly compiled by our digital comms colleagues. The NCAS 2014 site also features downloads of our presentations and additional audio/visual content: from Care Act implementation to Winterbourne View.
And if you were lucky enough to attend this year, why not share your own reflections of NCAS 2014? Please use the comment facility below.
Next year, NCAS sets up shop in Bournemouth. It is sure to be an eventful, challenging - and hopefully positive - 12 months until then.