Regional health journalists will get a helping hand from a West Midlands university this week.

Coventry University, which has played a major role in raising awareness of health journalism as a specialist discipline, is to host an international conference on the subject at its city centre campus, from Wednesday to Friday.

At the same time, the university is also planning to launch a new professional development course aimed specifically at health reporters and PR officers.

The uni’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course – Contemporary Issues in Health Journalism – is designed to familiarise journalists with all aspects of health reporting, and to equip them with the background knowledge and skills necessary to write insightful and compelling features.

The “International” health journalism conference – only the second of its kind to be hosted by Coventry University – is entitled ‘First Do No Harm, and is supported by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), the European Federation of Journalists, and the Medical Journalists’ Association (MJA).

Drawing experts from across the globe, the conference will look at the realities of health reporting – its professional pressures, politics, and ethics – and argue the case that newsrooms should devote greater priority and resource to the subject.

Conference co-organiser John Lister  leads the University’s health journalism short course, and is currently editing a new guidebook for practitioners to be launched at the conference.

He said: “Health and healthcare are issues that relate to every one of us in a way that few other subjects do.  It’s big news but it’s also one of journalism’s most challenging areas.

“To do it properly, journalists need to understand the system, and appreciate the particular complexities surrounding the reporting of health related news stories.

“Our international conference, which is attracting experts in the field, presents an excellent opportunity to share knowledge and experience but it will also have a strong focus on practical solutions to help journalists deliver high quality health stories.”