EVENT REVIEW McLaughlan also addressed
the financial consequences of failure, “We can’t afford to be spending money chasing things down when we could have got them right in the first place,” he said. “Follow the guidance… maintain the golden thread.” He concluded by challenging the sector to lead cultural change, so that future hospitals are places “you would be happy to put your loved ones in need of care.”
Stuart Douglas of NHS Wales
offered a Welsh perspective on the conference theme, sharing lessons in collaboration, workforce sustainability and independent assurance. Addressing the audience, Douglas said he would share “things that
Simon Corben, Director and Head of Profession for NHS Estates and Facilities, and IHEEM’s CEO Pete Sellars signed a formal contract officially designating IHEEM as the sole owner and overseer of NHSE’s AE Register.
we’ve learned in Wales”, stressing that he was “not suggesting any replication of what we do”, but offering principles that others might apply in their own systems.
Workforce shortage He warned of growing risks to safe and compliant services through the loss of experienced professionals: “One of the threats that we perceive in Wales is the risk of losing skilled and accredited workforce. Far too many of us are at the wrong end of the scale age-wise.” He added that the loss of specialist skills and independent assurance capability poses a critical challenge. Central to his message was collaboration. “The principle that I’d like to share with you this morning is that of collaboration, sharing resources in order to be able to maintain access to accredited people… and being able to secure independent assurance,” he said. Douglas outlined the role of NHS Shared Services in
Wales, which provides specialist estates, engineering, fire safety and facilities expertise to health boards and Welsh Government. He described the organisation as a way of retaining skills “that organisations can’t just recruit to immediately”. He also explained how Shared Services role has
changed within capital projects. “We’ve actually come forward and started to play a much more formative role,” he said, with specialists now joining project boards to act as a “critical friend”, providing early challenge on issues such as contingency spend, emerging claims, and risk management. Douglas highlighted how closer working with Welsh Government has helped unlock investment to address infrastructure risks identified through engineering and fire safety reviews. “One of the fantastic things that Welsh
IHEEM President Elect
Simon Adamson, Director of Estate Facilities and Capital and President- Elect of IHEEM, said of the show: “It’s a busy day, a busy event. A lot of planning goes into the event – it’s lovely to see it all come together. I think collaboration is a big factor and I think that’s the beauty of the Institute and events like this. We get the opportunity to collaborate.”
30 Health Estate Journal January 2026
Click to watch our videos from the show:
https://healthestatejournal.com/video.
Government did was to start to highlight the fact that there would be money that they could invest in response to the things that we were finding,” he said. He encouraged delegates to reflect on how similar collaborative models could work elsewhere: “Perhaps you could just reflect in other situations how you might collaborate to prevent a loss of service through lack of skills.” He emphasised the continued need for honest challenge across organisations, adding: “We need to call upon people to be honest, critical friends that will say what they see in order for us to drive towards providing the quality services that we need.” Simon Corben, Director and Head of Profession for NHS Estates at NHS England, offered a strategic overview of the national priorities shaping the future of the healthcare estate.
National priorities Thanking IHEEM and the conference organisers for the invitation, Corben framed his address around four key areas aligned to both NHS and wider government objectives: statutory responsibilities, strategic planning, capital deployment, clinical productivity and, most importantly, the workforce. Focusing on capital investment, Corben described the past year as a pivotal moment for estates, highlighting the publication of the NHS plan and the accompanying 10-year infrastructure strategy as a “game-changer” for the sector. For the first time, he said, the NHS now has long-term
assurance around capital funding. “Too often we’ve been stuck with yearly allocations that simply do not work for effective delivery. This long-term commitment fundamentally changes how we can plan and invest,” he said. Corben detailed how £119 bn of capital has been
committed over the next decade, including £24 bn for the New Hospital Programme. He also highlighted the role of the national ‘Shape’ digital platform in providing a single, detailed view of the NHS estate, enabling stakeholders to assess building condition – and future investment needs – with far greater clarity. Alongside this, Corben underlined the importance of
development control plans and strategic partnerships, both within the NHS and across the private sector, to maximise the impact of forthcoming investment. Illustrating what effective capital deployment can
achieve, Corben pointed to major schemes, including the £400 m mental health dormitories programme at North Manchester General Hospital. He described the transformation delivered by these projects as “extraordinary”, noting both the dramatic improvement in patient environments and the significant operational benefits for staff. Turning to productivity, Corben addressed recent ERIC data, acknowledging that backlog maintenance and operational costs have risen. However, he emphasised that productivity levels are now back to pre-pandemic performance, with more than 20 million additional patients moving through the estate compared with 2019. He also highlighted encouraging reductions in reported infrastructure failures, crediting better targeted investment, while warning that the impact of such failures on services continues to rise. Central to Corben’s address was the workforce.
With forecasts indicating that 23 per cent more staff will be required by 2035, he described recruitment and development as the defining challenge for the coming years. He highlighted the social value and national impact of working in NHS estates and facilities, calling it a unique
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