NHS Property 2022

We are delighted to announce that the NHS Property conference is back for it’s 11th year again at the beautiful One Great George Street venue in Westminster (The Institute of Civil Engineers). The focus for this year will be how property and estates functions can work towards a Better, Smarter and Greener NHS. Circa 150 NHS property professionals will meet on the 15th November for a day of learning, discussions and networking featuring speakers from event partners NHS Property Services and Community Health Partnerships along with the wider public sector and expert service providers from the private sector.

Delegate places are free of charge for all property professionals employed within the UK public sector*. Places will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and must be booked in advance.

Subject matters to be covered include:

• The four pillars of NHS property management
• Integrated Care Systems – challenges, opportunities and how estates can support
• Community Wealth – putting your buildings at the heart of the community
• NHS Estates and the Solar PV challenge! – Join this informative session with Absolute Solar and Wind (an RSK company) to explore the opportunities and challenges faced by NHS estates on renewables retrofit, with an overview of the issues, solutions, and lessons learned, using NHS case studies to help facilitate the drive towards that Net Zero target!
• Adapting the ICU model to Provide Flexible, Innovative and Personalised Care in a Post-Pandemic Society – At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare Trusts were stretched to capacity, utilising existing Intensive Care Units (ICU) and general wards to treat severely ill patients in respiratory distress. Current design guidance and healthcare infrastructure has had to accommodate these new needs, with little flexibility within the current system to cope. However, the facilities and clinical teams have confronted this challenge, doing a crucial job brilliantly whilst in difficult circumstances. Objectives The pandemic has raised three issues; why are ICU facilities inflexible, a major problem pre-pandemic but compounded by the last 18 months? How can medical advancements still be achieved while addressing the backlog of patient referrals and outpatient procedures? Finally, how fit-for-purpose is our current design guidance legislation? Concentrating on the ICU model, we will question how flexible it can be to meet future patient requirements, including personalised medicine, while maintaining effective isolation within intensive care. Methodology Current ICU designs will be evaluated, and hypothetical clinical models for care will be developed for testing and investigation. These are later analysed for suitability, effectiveness and versatility, at clinical and patient level. All findings will inform recommendations for changes to design guidance. Conclusion This paper seeks to examine what can be achieved while working outside the constraints of the current clinical model and design guidance. With flexibility at its core, can the current ICU clinical design be updated to allow for the needs of current and future requirements?
• Road Map to Building Resilience –NHS Property Services recognise the need to ensure resilience of our estate against the change in climate that is already occurring. We are developing an approach that will ensure Adaptation, Biodiversity and Net-Zero Carbon are all considered as we transition our estate, while also keeping our customers at the heart of what we do.
• Working with the Health Creation Alliance to understand how the use of space can tackle health inequalities – Key findings from a new piece of research by NHSPS and Health Creation Alliance, looking into how NHS spaces can help or hinder the ability of underserved community groups to create health
• The Impact of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Decarbonisation on Estate Strategy – What you need to know now, for the future – With the NHS aiming to be net zero (for controlled emissions) by 2040, we bring together specialists from Montagu Evans and Gleeds to discuss how decisions you make today around disposing, acquiring or re-using buildings can have a knock-on effect – both on your future emissions and your bottom line.
• 2023 Business Rates Revaluation – The Financial Impact for the NHS – This session will focus on the likely increase in both Rateable Values and business rates charges for the NHS from 1/4/2023 and how actions to mitigate your business rates liability NOW will ensure the lowest possible rate charges going into the 2023 Revaluation cycle. This update will also provide details on the impending obligation for occupiers to submit annual returns to the Valuation Office regarding any property changes.
• Hybrid & Hubs – The Evolving Landscape of Public Sector Estates – Join NHS and wider public sector colleagues to hear their experience of hybrid working. The Matrix Booking “Hybrid and Hubs” Series focuses on the changing world of hybrid working and hybrid estates, looking at the Home vs Office and Private Estate vs Hub Estate decisions facing organisations. The series combines online and offline sessions with workplace and technical professionals sharing the challenges, opportunities, techniques and technologies used to plan and provide the right work settings in the right places for staff in this fast-changing industry. The session will provide valuable, first-hand insight into how organisations are adapting to the new ways of working and addressing some of the challenges they present to organisations and to their staff.
• Smarter working – the new normal?
• Energy efficiency – driving best value from energy saving projects and the suppliers delivering them – With many Healthcare Estates braced for an eye-watering £2 million-a-month increase in energy bills, the need to deliver successful energy saving schemes is a must. But how? Accessing the right expertise, at the right time, is critical. In this case study led presentation, EEVS Managing Director, Ian Jeffries, shares his experiences acting as independent advisor and savings verifier for a number of NHS Trusts and FTSE-100 firms; helping set them up for success and ensuring that they pay for proven, EEVS-verified savings – not unchecked supplier claims
• Work Smarter: How to fund projects when you don’t have the capital – In the context of the government tightening purse strings for NHS capital schemes, there are likely to be plenty of priority projects across the NHS without a capital funding allocation over coming months and years. NHS Trusts, Systems and GPs are continuing to innovate in partnership with the private sector and other public bodies to solve this problem.
  In this session we will explore gbpartnerships’ current examples of the commercial models being used to deliver multi-million pound projects. We’ll look at sources of funding, lease structures, asset interests, the key players involved, procurement, the business case and their application in the context of Integrated Care Systems.
  This session is must for any capital projects or finance lead focussed on delivering unfunded new schemes.

Please note agenda will be updated regularly, speakers, subject matter and timings may be subject to change