Strong foundations or shifting sands?

At a juncture in the NHS’s history when, with the new Health and Social Care Act having recently passed into law, the future ‘landscape’ for, and role of, healthcare estates management and engineering personnel are full of uncertainties. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports on some of the anticipated event highlights.

Being held at the Telford International Centre, a venue which the organisers stress has excellent transport links for rail, road, and air, the 2012 HefmA Annual National Conference and Exhibition will be chaired by Phil Hammond, a seasoned writer and broadcaster, who is also a GP, and thus has considerably more than a passing interest in how the NHS reforms will impact on patient care and the service as a whole. Following an introduction and welcome to the event from Phil Hammond, Peter Sellars, deputy director, Gateway Reviews, Estates and Facilities, at the Department of Health, will give the conference keynote, ‘looking forward to the newly structured NHS’ and, as HefmA aptly puts, ‘the challenges ahead’. Other speakers on the first day of the two-day event will include Barry Whittlestone, a Public Governor at the Chesterfield Royal Infirmary, discussing the Public Governor role, and how such individuals’ remit not only includes acting as an ambassador for the Foundation Trusts they serve, but also ensuring that they are accountable to local people and to their members, and Dean Royles, director of NHS Employers. The latter will address the topic of ‘NHS Employers: 12 months on – What’s new?’ Choice of break-outs The morning plenary sessions will be followed by a choice of breakout sessions, where delegates will be able to choose from a session on ‘Pushing delivery in estates and rationalising the estate’, headed by Mick Taylor, acting director of estates at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, or a break-out focusing on the role of the facilities matron in ‘Bringing patient benefits and profile to estates and facilities in the Trust’, led by Christine Bentley, matron for Estates and Facilities at the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust. Two further afternoon break-out sessions will be led by Alistair Rose, project director, Capital Programme, at the Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, and Rachael Masters, team lead dietician at the County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, with the first focusing on ‘Joint venture partnership – the evolution of estates modernisation’, and the second on ‘Under-nutrition’. The conference’s first day will conclude with a look, by the organisation’s secretary for Business Administration, Lieutenant Colonel Ivor Telfer, at how the Salvation Army manages a portfolio of buildings and other ‘assets’ in over 3,500 locations across the UK. Day two will begin with a presentation by Conor Ellis, global account leader, Health, at built asset consultancy, EC Harris, on ‘Shaped for the future – reforming the NHS estate’, while Olympic silver medallist and broadcaster Colin Jackson CBE will present on ‘The Winning Formula: Turning bitter defeat into positive energy’. Wrapping up the presentations, Dr Phil Hammond will give a thought-provoking address on ‘The GP’s perspective’. The evening of 24 May will see HefmA hold its Annual Conference Gala Dinner, at which the Association will present its 2012 Awards. The award categories are: Facilities Manager of the Year; Facilities Team of the Year; Project Manager of the Year; Training Initiative of the Year, and Innovation Award. HefmA 2012 will also incorporate an exhibition where over 60 suppliers will showcase products and services targeted specifically at the healthcare estates and facilities management sector. For more information on exhibiting at, or visiting, HefmA 2012, visit: www.hefma.co.uk/ events/item/hefma-awards-and-dinner-2012 or T: 0844 571 7250.

Both the conference programme and speakers are ‘subject to change’.