Three new keynote speakers at this month’s IHEEM Healthcare Estates annual conference in Manchester (which opens at Manchester Central on 9 October) will be among 60 experts delivering content to an expected audience of more than 400 professionals, including representatives from over 80 NHS organisations and independent healthcare providers.
After a welcome address by IHEEM President, Paul Kingsmore, Department of Health head of profession, NHS Estates and Facilities Policy Division, Peter Sellars, will deliver the opening keynote address, translating the impact of the Health and Social Care Act for the estates community, and highlighting the need for action from estates professionals to play their part in moving the health service forward, while architect, PFI adviser, and commentator, Rory Coonan, former director of Architecture, Design and Planning for Circle Healthcare, will deliver a keynote on the future of healthcare design, encompassing system design, and will outline the potential longer-term vision for healthcare services. In his keynote, Simon Holden, recently announced as Chief Executive of NHS Property Services, will lay out the vision for the organisation, and how its establishment will impact on commissioners and providers. This year’s Healthcare Estates takes place in Manchester on 9 and 10 October, and, the organisers say, record numbers from the healthcare sector have already registered to attend. Key senior directors and managers from across the UK will enjoy two days of debate and discussion on key issues affecting the sector, and network with the 180 exhibitors, who will show many of the latest products, services, and innovations, on offer.
Show’s importance underlined
The Healthcare Estates 2012 conference, organised by IHEEM and i2i Events, is expected to attract over 300 delegates. IHEEM said: “The importance of this annual event both for visitors, who come to learn and find solutions while enjoying debate with colleagues and experts from across healthcare, and for exhibitors, showcasing their products and services, is in evidence from the level of interest and support for the 2012 show.” Steve Webb, exhibition director, said: “Our excellent level of pre-registration shows the significance that the healthcare estates and facilities community across the UK places on Healthcare Estates, the sector’s leading event. Since we moved the show to Manchester we have seen a steady rise in attendance, in tandem, I believe, with an ever more challenging operating backdrop for estates and facilities personnel, as budgets shrink, costs increase, and the workload on, in some cases, contracting teams, continues to increase. The conference gives delegates the opportunity to hear from some of the major players, thinkers, and policy-makers from across the estates and facilities community, while the exhibition provides an ideal forum within which a wide range of suppliers, service providers, and other organisations, can showcase their products and services to an audience with a real interest in what they have to say and sell. Healthcare Estates has seen consistent growth in numbers attending as visitors, and exhibitor numbers have also remained high, even during the downturn, reflecting the event’s importance to the sector as a whole.”
Looking to 2013
The organisers of the exhibition, Step Exhibitions, have also revealed their plans for 2013. “Under the strapline, ‘The exhibitors, the products, the showcases, the people’,” exhibition director, Steve Webb explained, “we are highlighting the benefits to visitors of attending exhibitions and conferences. Healthcare Estates offers a great opportunity to meet colleagues, ask questions face-to-face, and to touch and feel the new products on display. Technology is moving at an incredible pace, and this factor, coupled with the speed at which the healthcare landscape is evolving, make the annual IHEEM event, where visitors can hear firsthand from many in the vanguard of these changes, a real must-attend. In planning the show, we specifically target healthcare engineers, estates and facilities managers, architects, construction companies, M&E contractors, and the many providers of products, technology, and services, to the sector, working closely with our main partners and key exhibitors to continue improving the visitor experience.”
More new features for 2013
Next year’s Healthcare Estates conference and exhibition will take place at Manchester Central on 8 and 9 October, with the organisers promising ‘a number of further new areas reflecting the needs of visitors and what they want to see at this hugely important event’. Steve Webb said: “This year, we have added two new features; the first, the Contractors & Architects area, has already sparked significant interest. Visitors can now reserve places at no cost for sessions including one on ‘Personalised Cancer Centre Design’ with the speaker being Catherine Zeliotis from Stantec Anshen & Allen, while, on both days of the show, Tony Crawford and Neil McCracken from Mersey Design Group will discuss the highly topical subject of ‘Therapeutic Mental Health Environments’.
Topical presentations
The BRE area, meanwhile, will see free sessions staged, including a presentation by Yetunde Abdul from BRE Global examining ‘BREEAM for Healthcare Buildings’ on day two, and, on day one, a look by Mitie’s Richard Howe MBE at ‘The background to the Addenbrooke’s development’. Steve Webb explained: “Our job is to make the exhibition as compelling and interesting as possible. Creating the right mix of visitors and exhibitors, and providing them with useful content, is how we achieve this. We feel that this year we have created an exciting and highly topical programme.” To make getting to this year’s conference and exhibition easier and more convenient for visitors, ‘VIP visitors’ (see HEJ show preview – September 2012) from the NHS, the Department of Health, private healthcare facilities, care homes, mental health Trusts, and primary care and other key healthcare organisations and bodies who drive to the event, will be offered complimentary parking on site, with complimentary tea and coffee in a dedicated area of the exhibition.
An eye on costs
“Many visitors pre-register for events, and then face the difficulty of justifying the expense of travel and accommodation before they get to an exhibition,” said Steve Webb. “We feel that, as costs form one of the key themes at this year’s event, and many exhibitors and presentations will be focusing on ways of cutting costs in healthcare, we should help visitors where we can with costs on site. We have already signed up a significant number of visitors to the scheme, and hope to confirm more over the last week before the event takes place.” For details on the offer, contact the team: T: 01892 518877, or email: healthcare@stepex.com Healthcare Estates 2012 takes place on 9 and 10 October at Manchester Central. For the latest version of the conference programme, visit www.healthcare-estates.org.uk where bookings can be made both for the Healthcare Estates conference, and for the conference and IHEEM Awards dinner. Discounts are available for NHS staff and IHEEM members. For more information on this year’s exhibition, visit: www.healthcare-estates.com
