The Endowment for Training and Education in Reproduction (ENTER) was founded in 1999, and has grown in strength each year. It all started when Leroy Edozien invested personal resources in organizing a national conference on risk management and litigation. The proceeds from that conference and subsequent ones constitute the endowment. ENTER has organised national, regional and local conferences, provided manikins for clinical skills training, and sponsored healthcare providers to training courses. Our focus is on improving quality and reducing risk in women’s healthcare. Behind this focus is the belief that the science and the art of medicine are both important; in the delivery of healthcare, they should go hand in hand.

Our key achievement is the multidisciplinary conference on patient safety issues which took place in Manchester every year from 2000 to 2006. Whilst providing a meeting of high educational value, we strive to make it affordable to healthcare professionals who do not have access to a generous study leave budget. Accordingly, the registration fee has over the years been pegged at about 50% of the market rate for a conference of this standard, and a number of places have been offered to midwives and nurses free of charge. That this has been achieved despite the lack of sponsorship is due to the voluntary contributions of the conference convener and associates.

Delegates have come from across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland, and feedback has been satisfying and motivating. A debt of gratitude is owed the distinguished persons who, despite the pressures of their work, have kindly agreed to speak at the meetings.

From 2007 the conference has been jointly organised by ENTER and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).