HefmA 2009

Hosted by the association’s London Branch, HefmA 2009 takes place 20-21 May at the Park Inn Heathrow Hotel. Now entering its 12th year, the annual event has firmly established itself as a key forum for senior healthcare EFM professionals and commercial providers to discuss common challenges and share knowledge on innovation and best practice. The 2009 conference will provide high-level information for EFM directors and senior healthcare managers, with a line-up of national and international experts reviewing worldwide developments in facilities management and the health estate.
    
“Development of the conference agenda is proving exciting as we confirm speakers and announce the agenda themes and sessions”, says HefmA London branch. “We will be addressing the future of healthcare delivery and the role of EFM in meeting new requirements with international perspectives on how other countries are approaching the challenge of planning estate and facilities services to meet healthcare needs and improve the quality of the patient experience today and in the future.”

Agenda and speakers
The 2009 conference sessions include:

• Delivering quality care: the view from the chief executive’s office
• Meeting patient needs and expectations
• Strategic asset planning – the future of the healthcare estate
• Emerging models for world class facilities service delivery     
• Designs on the future – a vision for healthcare architecture
• Healthcare infrastructure – new directions in procurement
• Sustainability – the challenging new context.

Moderating the HefmA 2009 conference will be Simon Fanshawe whose career combines that of broadcaster, writer and award winning comedian with that of a social activist and Board member.
    
Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, paralympic athlete, gold medallist and consultant to The London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) will address the HefmA conference on 20 May. Her 16 Paralympic medals (including 11 gold), six gold medals in the London Marathon, and her comprehensive set of British and World Records make her achievements second to none in the disability sport arena.
    
Also confirmed as speaking at the HefmA conference is Blair Sadler, senior fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Mr Sadler will address delegates on the topic of ‘The compelling business case for building evidence-based better hospitals’. In these challenging economic times, the need to calculate a realistic economic Return on Investment (ROI) of effective hospital design seems more important than ever. In his presentation, he will include an ROI framework for delegates to consider and apply to their own circumstances.
    
Claire Perry, managing director of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, will be joining the  ‘future of healthcare delivery’ panel and providing the view from the chief executives office. Ms Perry, who has an OBE for services to healthcare, joined the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in April this year and prior to that spent eight years as chief executive of Bromley Health Authority before spending six years leading the University Hospital Lewisham. 

Ali Parsa, managing partner of Circle Health, will be joining Ms Perry on this panel. With well over 1,000 members, Circle is the largest commercial partnership of doctors in England. Its philosophy is to make frontline professionals responsible both for the delivery and management of healthcare, which it believes is key to providing the best clinical practices and highest service standards for all patients, whether privately or publicly funded.
    
Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), will give a keynote address on healthcare architecture on the morning of 21 May.
    
Other key speakers include Dr. Marinus Verweij, director for the Dutch Centre for Health Assets (DuCHA), and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kunibert Lennerts, manager of Faculty Management, Institute for Technology and Management in Construction, University of Karlsruhe, who will sit on the panel for the Strategic Asset Planning – The Future of the Healthcare Estate conference session.
    
Dr. Marinus Verweij trained as a medical doctor and worked from 1984-1992 as a physician and later medical superintendent in several hospitals in southern Africa. In 1992 he returned to the Netherlands and was a senior advisor for the Netherlands Board for Hospital Facilities. The NBHF is an autonomous authority that licenses all health building within the Netherlands The board's field of work includes hospitals, nursing homes and residential care, mental healthcare institutions and facilities for the (mentally) disabled. In 1996 Verweij became the executive director of the international humanitarian relief NGO: ZOA Refugee Care.
    
In 2000 he returned to the Netherlands Board for Hospital Facilities as one of the directors. Early 2006 he was appointed by the Minister of Health as one of the three members of the Board of Directors for the newly named Netherlands Board for Healthcare Institutions. The knowledge base of the Board has become part of the applied research organisation TNO in Delft. From 2009 it will be known as the Dutch Centre for Health Assets (DuCHA). Verweij is now director of this centre.
    
A key contributor to the HefmA conference is The Patients Association – a national charity providing patients with an opportunity to raise concerns and share experiences of healthcare. They have joined forces for the event with Medical Services and DRAX UK to present the results of a country-wide survey, which will report on patient and carer perceptions about non-medical services they receive and the environment in which these are provided. The outcome of this unique, independent survey will be made available to the NHS to support other benchmarking work and improve the understanding of patient and carer needs so as to provide them with better accommodation and support service standards. Online access to the survey will be available soon. For further details, please visit www.hefma.org.uk.
    
The Patients Association will also be providing an insight into what patients and their carers in other countries expect EFM-wise from their healthcare providers and will be joined by a guest speaker from Canada, Durhane Wong-Rieger.
    
Durhane Wong-Rieger, president and CEO, The Institute for Optimizing Health Outcomes, will be speaking in the session entitled ‘Delivering quality care – meeting patient needs and expectations’. Dr Wong-Rieger is also president of the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders, and founder and head of Consumer Advocare Network, a national network to promote patient engagement in healthcare policy and advocacy. Internationally, she serves as a board member of the International Alliance of Patient Organizations.

Exhibition
Running alongside the 2009 conference will be a fully booked exhibition of EFM products and services, highlighting the latest innovations from the commercial sector.  
    
Exhibiting and sponsoring companies currently include: 20/20 Business Insight, APCOA Parking, apetito, Aramark, BioCote, BOC Medical, Cadolto, Capsticks, Catalyst Waste Solutions, Clearwater Technology, Cowell Consulting, Dalkia, DMA Signs, Drax, Eco-Logic, Environmental Hygiene Products, Fast Park Sistema, Fine Green Associates, Focused FM, G4S Integrated Services, GML Construction, Green & Kassab, Haigh Engineering, Hill Dickinson, Hospital Bulletin, Hydrop, IHEEM, Intastop, Integrated Handheld Solutions, ISS Mediclean, Mansell Construction Services, Medical Services, Medical Waste Solutions, Micad, Mills & Reeve, MITIE, Morgan Ashurst, NHS Purchasing & Supply Agency, NIFES Consulting Group, Oakleaf, OCS, Qube Global Software, Schneider Electric, SSP, Static Systems, TeleTracking Technologies, The Litmus Partnership, The Patient’s Association, The Wandsworth Group, Topscan, UNS Hospitals, Winterhalter and WT Partnership.  

Charity Golf Day
Continuing the tradition of recent years, HefmA 2009 will include a pre-event charity golf tournament on 19 May. It will take place at Stockley Park Golf Course.
    
Stockley Park boasts one of London's finest 18 hole Championship golf courses and is set in 240 acres of rolling countryside. The par 72, 6,754 yard tree lined course was established in 1993 with six-time major champion Nick Faldo launching the opening tee shot. The course has also played host to events on the European Senior and Challenge tours, recognising Stockley Park as one of the best venues in London. The Clubhouse occupies a commanding position with the balcony bar offering stunning views of the course, including the 9th and 18th greens. Stockley Park Golf Course is situated just five minutes from M4 and 35 minutes from the centre of London and is approximately three miles from Heathrow where the event hotel is located.
    
The cost of the day will be £30 with £10 of this fee going to charity. Book your place for a fun filled day in aid a good cause.
    
To book your place, contact Hugh Barter, estates & facilities borough manager Lewisham, tel: 020 3228 9039, e-mail: Hugh.Barter@slam.nhs.uk.

Networking
Social networking opportunities will include a pre-conference icebreaker event on the evening of 19 May and gala dinner on 20 May. The association has also confirmed that the HefmA National Awards scheme, launched in 2007 to celebrate excellence in healthcare estates and facilities management, will take place once again in 2009, with awards presented at the annual gala dinner. For more information on the Awards, visit www.hefma.org.uk

To book your delegate place at HefmA 2009, please visit www.hefma.org.uk where you can view full details of the various delegate packages and download a registration form.