IHEEM’s 2008 Healthcare Estates Conference and Exhibition in Harrogate last month attracted the biggest attendance in the event’s history, with nearly 1,600 attendees across the twoday show, a 26% year-on-year increase.
In his opening address in the Yorkshire town’s spectacular Royal Hall, recently refurbished at a cost of £10 million, IHEEM’s new president Rob Smith (pictured) strongly urged members to contribute their own ideas, experience and knowledge to fellow members whenever possible, using a suitably adapted version of legendary US president John F Kennedy’s famous message when he told the audience: “It’s not what the Institute can do for you, it’s what you can do for it!”
Remembering his early days as an engineer on the M4 motorway project, he recalled his trepidation both at working alongside some hugely experienced, lifelong engineers, and at being somewhat unnerved when one told him: “You’re not a proper engineer until you gained Chartered status”. “Fortunately,” he said, “I received helpful guidance from many of my counterparts on the direction I needed to go in to consolidate my experience and gain further qualifications, and this very supportive philosophy is something I hope IHEEM’s more experienced members can adopt both when dealing with existing younger colleagues, and looking to recruit new members.”
While the estate “used to be the last thing to be invested in”, more Trust Boards were now recognising the positive impact high quality buildings and facilities could have on both patient perceptions and the clinical experience. Rob Smith also stressed the importance of sound training for all estates personnel and exhorted members to do all they could to encourage junior colleagues to strive to be the “rounded, experienced” leaders the sector needed for the future.
