Industry being kept afloat with £8bn investment into health care infrastructure

The Government’s pledge to plough more than £8bn into health and social care infrastructure is helping to keep the construction industry afloat as other sectors struggle, according to a new report.

Barbour ABI has published its latest Economic & Construction Market Review, which shows that the total value of all new construction contracts awarded in May this year in the UK increased by 5.3% compared to the previous month. However, the total value of construction contracts in May was 3.7% lower than in the same month last year. Economists believe this indicates that the recent high levels of growth are beginning to slow. However, the health sector is expected to weather the storm, with the value of projects up on last year, pointing to an increase in activity. The Barbour ABI report states that while activity was down 1.1% in May 2014 compared to March, the total value of contracts awarded was £222m, 3.5% higher than in March 2013.

This optimism was supported by the Government’s unveiling of its National Infrastructure Plan 2012, which committed £4.6bn in health and social care capital in 2014/15 and £4.7bn in 2015/16, including an investment of £1.4bn in hospital upgrades and redevelopments. The commitment to continue to protect health budgets in this year’s Budget speech reiterated that spending is paving the way for a number of new developments.

The report also breaks down projects by type, with public hospitals the most-common development, accounting for 60% of construction spend. Surgeries, health and medical centres accounted for 15% of the value of projects, a 13% increase on May 2013 due to the switch in activity from acute to primary and community care infrastructure.

Leading architects in the field are currently HKS International, NBBJ, Devereux Architects, HOK International, Oxford Architects, IBI Taylor Young, Llewelyn Davies, Murphy Philipps, Archial, and P HS. The most active contractors are Interserve, Carillion, Kier Group, Skanska, Willmott Dixon, Coffey, Vinci, Galliford Try, BAM, and Morgan Sindall, many of whom will attend Healthcare Estates in October.

A spokesperson for Glenigan commented that while large hospital developments were becoming more rare, cash was being ploughed into other areas. He added: ñResearch and laboratories starts have increased by 24% this year and nursing homes saw a 3% rise.î

Healthcare Estates 2014 will look at the impact this spend on new and existing stock is having in four key sectors _ energy; estates and facilities; planning design and construction and engineering. In line with the event theme of quality in the patient environment, the opening address by Julian Hartley, chief executive at Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust promises to be insightful.

Julian joined Leeds Teaching Hospitals in October 2013, having previously worked as managing director of NHS Improving Quality _ a national organisation set up to drive change and improvement across the NHS. His opening address is appropriately entitled: A routemap for quality improvement.

Other speakers confirmed for the conference, which takes place in Manchester on 7-8 October, include on day one, Alexandra Hammond, Essentia, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust which presents in the Energy stream on transforming the way the NHS cuts energy costs and carbon emissions. Martha McSweeney, IBI Group and Catherine Zeliotis from Stantec will both be presenting in the Planning, Design & Construction stream on mental health design to support recovery and how thoughtful healthcare design is transforming the experience of cancer patients.

On day two, the keynote will be given by Kim Ormsby, national CSR and sustainability manager, NHS Property Services. Kim was previously facilities manager for three Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and is responsible for sustainability and waste management for six PCTs giving her a valuable insight into her talk on improving quality in the patient environment through sustainability.

Day two continues with a packed programme culminating in the popular worry pit with worry pit2 _ we’re going to need a bigger ladder. This fascinating session proved so popular last year there was standing room only. Panellists include Darryn Kerr, St James’ University Hospital; Howard Jones, Royal United Hospital, Bath; Mark Bagnall, University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust; John Simpson, University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust and John Wilkes, The Pennine Acute Hospital NHS Trust.

Dinner and awards
The organisers and IHEEM have announced this year’s after dinner speaker and presenter of the 2014 awards is ex pro footballer, Fabrice Muamba. In 2012, Fabrice suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur in an FA Cup 6th round match at White Hart Lane. After receiving lengthy treatment on the pitch, Fabrice was treated at the London Chest Hospital and initially placed in Intensive Care in a critical condition. During the cardiac arrest, his heart had stopped beating for 78 minutes.

Over the following two months, Fabrice made a remarkable recovery and he was discharged, having been fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter-defribillator (ICD). Fabrice has helped to launch a campaign to get more life-saving defibrillators into public places. Fabrice has joined forces with London Ambulance Service to get 1,000 of the machines into shops, businesses and gyms. The campaign is being run with Marks and Spencer, which is fitting defibrillators in its 86 London stores.

This year, over 500 guests are expected to attend the dinner and the awards are sponsored by Wandsworth Group, Turner & Townsend and NQA.

Steve Webb, director for organisers at Step Exhibitions, said: ñRegistrations are at record levels, already over 200 have booked to attend the dinner and hundreds have reserved their delegate places at the annual IHEEM conference. We will once again be running the VIP scheme which, following the success of the last few years, is sponsored by Wandsworth Group. Visitors and delegates will also benefit from special fares if traveling on Virgin trains with 20% disocounts on offer from the middle of July.î

Recent exhibitors include Ideal Standard, Johnson’s Trade, Sika, Gilling Dodd Architects, Medstor Stamford Products, Gritting.com, Kwikscreen, Willis Newson and Stanburys.

Healthcare Professionals VIP Scheme
Time away from running any business is critical and the benefits of attending an exhibition must be obvious from the outset. The organisers, working closely with IHEEM, will ensure healthcare visitors get maximum value from the show.

Qualifying visitors from the NHS, Department of Health, Private Health, Hospice, Care Home, Mental Health Trust, Primary Care or Strategic Health Authority will be offered a VIP package that will cover the costs of parking and refreshments on site, plus a dedicated area to network with colleagues and meet with key suppliers exhibiting at the show. If requested, we will help plan your day, set up meetings with suppliers and can even help find accommodation and places to eat.

If you think you qualify and would like more information go to www.healthcare-estates.co.ukand register now to be upgraded.

More products, more choice

By experiencing the range of products on offer, you can be sure to make the right decision. Healthcare Estates exhibition provides you with every opportunity to see products demonstrated _ essential in an industry where actually touching or using the product is part of the buying process.

With the whole industry together, Healthcare Estates is also the perfect place to network. An exhibition, conference and dinner where customers and suppliers rub shoulders with their peers, competitors and future suppliers and employers
is invaluable.

Visitors to Healthcare Estates will also benefit from discussions around the hottest topics of the moment and you can learn the latest methods to deal with specific issues you encounter in your job. Many of companies invest in training on a regular basis, but there is nothing better than learning from experts and highly experienced speakers.

Healthcare Estates is open from 8.45 am. Manchester is one of the most accessible places from most parts of the UK, and the easiest city to travel around. Booking your train ticket early could save you money and, once in Manchester the event is just a short walk from Piccadilly Station and surrounded by hotels and facilities to make your visit worthwhile.

The exhibition is attended by many professionals involved in the sector including management from the department of health, NHS estates, facilities, sustainability and procurement professionals, managers and buyers for private hospitals, nursing and care homes. You will also be mixing with visitors and exhibitors from NHS Trusts, primary care, ambulance trusts, mental trusts, care trusts, foundation hospitals, architects, consultants, main contractors, developers and Government bodies and agencies.

Healthcare Estates features over 200 leading companies, showcasing the latest technologies, equipment and services specifically designed to improve healthcare environments and the patient experience. So make Healthcare Estates a
date in your diary.

Conference
The Healthcare Estates conference features 80 speakers on a range of topics under the headings: Energy, Estates & Facilities, Planning Design & Construction and Engineering.

Delegates are able to move from stream to stream and also benefit from time to attend free sessions and any of the fringe events during the day. Delegates are also given time to visit the exhibition and provided with meeting areas in the show so they can catch up with colleagues, meet new contacts and catch up on their day-to-day work while at the show.

Healthcare Estates event _ providing answers

For all those involved in the running, maintaining and delivery of the healthcare estate, this event is important to you.

Tackling issues of cost control, reducing energy, and return on investment makes attending even more valuable to you and your team. Visiting the show will enable you to create your own tool box to ensure your facility remains a risk-free environment. You will also be able to plan appointments and plan training for everyone attending in one of the four theatres or fringe events _ all free to pre-registered visitors. Make sure you book today to get the most from your presence at the show at www.healthcare-estates.com