WALES REGIONAL CONFERENCE GALA DINNER
Achievements celebrated at gala dinner in historic setting
The presentation of seven awards recognising achievement in areas ranging from sustainability to capital projects, a drinks reception accompanied by a rousing Welsh male voice choir, a sumptuous dinner, and a standout performance from opera singer, BBC Wales presenter, and star of the
Go.Compare insurance comparison website advertisements, Wynne Evans, were the highlights of a gala awards evening held at Cardiff’s historic Coal Exchange Hotel in Cardiff Bay during IHEEM’s May 2023 Wales Regional Conference.
The two-day conference, and an accompanying exhibition, were held at Cardiff City Stadium from 11-12 May, with the conference including hard-hitting, topical, and very interesting presentations from – among others – Judith Paget CBE, Director General of Health and Social Services and CEO, NHS Wales, Nicola Prygodzicz, CEO at the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Stuart Douglas, Director, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership – Specialist Estates Services, Anthony Pitcher, Senior Fire Safety Advisor, NWSSP SES, Scott Hislop, HSIB Principal National Investigator, and John Prendergast, Senior Decontamination Engineer, NWSSP SES, and IHEEM Welsh Branch Chair. Topics covered were wide-ranging – and encompassed subjects including key fire safety considerations when using natural, ‘sustainable’ building materials, the challenges of providing healthcare both to more prosperous, and less economically advantaged, parts of Wales, rationalisation and reorganisation of services and facilities, apprenticeship opportunities in the sector – with three young apprentices presenting on their own experiences, and a focus on major recent healthcare construction projects, such as the new Grange University Hospital in Llanfrechfa near Cwmbran, and a major refurbishment programme at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil. Insert IHEEM CEO, Pete Sellars, and Past-President, Paul Fenton, also presented on the need to ‘develop a common language’ for healthcare planning -- a subject on which they have also spoken at overseas events. Reports on a number of the presentations will appear in subsequent issues of HEJ.
Historic dinner venue The Gala Awards Dinner took place a few miles from the conference venue, at Cardiff’s Coal Exchange Hotel, on the evening of the first day. The evening began with pre-dinner drinks in the hotel’s Culley’s Kitchen & Bar. Graham Stanton, a highly
18 Health Estate Journal June 2023
The Coal Exchange Hotel’s imposing Grand Hall Suite was the venue for the Gala Dinner and Awards.
experienced former decontamination specialist and Authorising Engineer (Decontamination), who chairs the IHEEM AE(D) Registration Board, and is a member of the Decontamination Technology Platform and the Technical Platform Committee, entertained those enjoying drinks and networking before the dinner with some history on the Coal Exchange Hotel. He also discussed his
early career in the Merchant Navy, which was heavily influenced by his father and grandfather. The latter was a boilermaker and foreman in the dry docks in Cardiff until the late 1950s. His father, meanwhile, had served in the Royal Navy during World War II, and often took him to see the ships and docks – including – on many occasions – the coal trucks tipping Welsh coal into the ships in Cardiff. Graham Stanton later enjoyed a lengthy spell in the Merchant Navy, starting in 1968, where he says the first-class engineering ‘education’ and experience he received at the Officer Training School in Warsash, and at sea, proved invaluable in his subsequent NHS career. He went on to explain that before the
Opera singer, Wynne Evans, entertained dinner guests with some memorable moments from his very varied career, and gave a passionate rendition of ‘The Impossible Dream’.
Coal Exchange Hotel was built in Cardiff’s Mount Stuart Square, the area was a residential square with a central garden, but was later ‘taken over’ by commerce as the city’s prosperity grew. Prior to its construction, coal merchants used to chalk up the changing prices of coal on slates outside their offices, or struck deals in local pubs. He said: “As Cardiff became the world’s biggest coal port, the building was constructed between 1884 and 1888 as a base from which to conduct negotiations
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
