TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Wales Conference
DRAGONS’ DEN‑STYLE SHOWCASE COMES TO WALES
Wales Branch Chair, John Prendergast, and Secretary Peter Davies preview the upcoming regional Conference, Exhibition and Gala Awards Dinner, taking place next month.
This year, the Wales Regional Branch are once again engaging with IHEEM and our partners NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership/Specialist Estates Services to deliver our annual two‑day conference, to be held on 6/7 May 2026 at the International Convention Centre, Celtic Manor Resort, Newport. The theme of the event is “Navigating Uncertainty – Contingency and Resilience in Healthcare Estates”. As part of the agenda, we are looking to explore key lessons and emerging solutions for building resilient healthcare estates in 2026. Building on last year’s conference, the event will focus on workforce, infrastructure failures, governance, and the Estates Manager’s toolbox.
Some of the challenges the programme
looks to address include skills shortages, managing ageing infrastructure, strengthening compliance, improving accountability, and using data and digital solutions to support informed decision‑ making.
The exhibition area will be a vital part of the event, and we are working hard to ensure delegates can visit a wide range of trade exhibitors that are essential
suppliers to healthcare estates and facilities providers. As an exciting new feature for IHEEM, we are launching a Dragons’ Den‑style innovation showcase, giving private sector partners the opportunity to present the latest technical solutions that have the potential to transform healthcare over the coming years. This session is designed to spotlight forward‑thinking ideas, challenge conventional approaches, and
inspire fresh thinking across the sector. A panel of judges will ask questions of each pitch, and the audience will have the chance to see first‑hand which emerging technologies could shape the future of healthcare engineering and estates. The session will culminate in the announcement of the most innovative solution, adding a competitive edge and a sense of occasion to the event. This feature aims to strengthen
collaboration between industry and healthcare providers, encourage bold ideas, and highlight the role of innovation in meeting the challenges facing modern healthcare systems.
Gala Dinner and Awards
As part of the event, we have the annual gala dinner and awards evening, and organisations are welcomed to nominate personnel and teams to the appropriate categories available. Look out for further information to be supplied for the awards, to include information on corporate sponsorship from our event partners. We are honoured to welcome as our
after‑dinner speaker the celebrated former Welsh rugby union and Great Britain rugby league international Jonathan Davies OBE. Known
8 Health Estate Journal April 2026
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