Visitor spread shows event’s popularity

Attendance included over 370 delegates and speakers from the broad healthcare estates community, who came together for two days of plenary and session content combining top-level views on challenges for the future (see conference reports on pages 18-29 and 57-59) with practical case studies and advice on driving improvement. Conference delegates and speakers were also able to network with exhibitors and visitors to discuss and see some of the new developments available to them. Conference director, Alexis Nolan, said: “The conference audience – an eight per cent increase on 2010 – combined NHS estates professionals and Department of Health experts with senior directors and managers from architects, construction and planning consultants, engineering consultants, construction clients, and civil and structural engineers.” Among 17 speakers from the NHS were directors such as Trevor Payne from University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Martyn Jeffery from the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, Kevin Oxley, from North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, and Duane Passman from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. NHS commentator, Roy Lilley, provided some frank analysis of current healthcare reforms and the challenges ahead for NHS organisations, while a strong emphasis on environmental concerns saw the launches of the NHS Sustainability Portal (see pages 25-29) and the Carbon and Energy Fund, and a presentation to the first NHS organisation – NHS South of Tyne and Wear – to achieve BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ certification. Steve Webb, exhibition director, added: “The record attendance is testament to the organisers’ decision to take the event to Manchester. Last year was very much a test for Healthcare Estates, and the feedback was extremely positive. Since the event moved to Manchester, we have worked hard to deliver a key audience to the sector’s leading healthcare event. This year saw more key decision-makers attend, with a good growth in attendance. Exhibition visitor numbers were up on the year before, with 11% more visitors attending on day one and 7% more on day two. “Our job,” he added, “is to make the exhibition as compelling and interesting as possible. Creating the right mix of visitors and exhibitors with useful content is how we achieved this. Visitors were able to speak to over 170 exhibitors, and attend 20 hours of complimentary showcase sessions looking at a wide range of topics.” Attendees were drawn from across the whole of the UK, with a good cross-section of decision-makers attending this year. Over 18% came from London and the South-East, 14% from the Midlands, 15% from the North & Yorkshire, and 30% from the North West. Six per cent of those attending came from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and overseas.

New developments for 2012

The 2012 event will incorporate a number of new features, including: A ‘Construction & Architecture’ area Steve Webb says: “The recent news that The Construction Products Association is forecasting a 15 per cent fall this year will have a major impact on the health sector. With the CPA’s Construction Industry Forecasts showing health spending will continue to fall through 2013 and 2014, before achieving modest growth in 2015, healthcare construction work is expected to fall from a peak of around £5.2 billion in 2008, to £2.4 bn in 2014, adjusted for inflation. “This new event area will focus on issues including the uncertainty over the future of PFI, one of the key mechanisms for bringing private investment into the UK’s public sector. While the Government has released £2 bn in PFI spending for education, the same is unlikely to happen in healthcare in the near future. Hospitals are hugely complex buildings, so there is not the same initial scope to make savings and make the system financially viable for the taxpayer. The NHS is, of course, spending through the ProCure21+ framework agreement, but these projects are moving towards the rationalisation of estate and refurbishment work, rather than new build.” This new feature will involve members of ProCure21+, and companies involved in the delivery of services to this sector, and will feature presentations on ‘how to cope with the proposed spending cuts and identify where savings on existing buildings can be made’. Estates management and consultants’ area Using buildings differently is the key proposal in the Parliamentary report, ‘Leaner and Greener – Putting Buildings to Work’. (the review was undertaken by Westminster Sustainable Business Forum). Steve Webb says: “The report describes the scope for efficiency when Councils and other public bodies such as the health service work together. The best public bodies are already working in this way. The report shows that if the best was replicated across the country, some £8 bn could be generated in better staff productivity and better services.” Case studies described include an investment of £1.2 million in 11 initiatives, with the Barts and the London NHS Trust, for instance, generating annual financial savings of £800,000, leading to a combined payback of its initial investment over 18 months. This new Healthcare Estates feature will ‘look at the ways companies can help NHS Trusts understand their estates and help their investments provide savings’. Steve Webb says of the benefits of exhibiting in Manchester in 2012: “All exhibitors will receive a logo and hyperlink on their website listing, plus 100 words in the show catalogue. The Healthcare Estates Loyalty Scheme, offering companies reduced rates for exhibiting based upon the length of their continuous participation, will also continue. “Over 50% of available stand space for this year’s exhibition was booked on site last November, with 55 companies having already confirmed their attendance for 2012, a figure we expect to grow considerably in the next few weeks. This was the highest ever such percentage achieved at a Healthcare Estates event, and clearly demonstrates the show’s importance.”