Giving the opening keynote speech remotely at the 2025 IHEEM Wales Regional Conference at the ICC Wales in May, Judith Paget CBE, Director General for Health and Social Services and NHS Wales Chief Executive, reflected on some of the key challenges for the NHS estate in Wales – including an ageing estate, a significant maintenance backlog, and the need to prioritise where limited capital funding is invested. With avoidable safety incidents still occurring across the NHS, it was also vital – she said – that compliance risks were managed and mitigated against.
The first morning's opening conference session, at an event themed 'Pioneering estates for tomorrow', was prefaced with an introduction from IHEEM's CEO, Pete Sellars, who highlighted the 'great line-up of speakers', and told delegates that what made such events special was their engagement with those presenting. He explained that the first session's keynote speaker would be Judith Paget, followed by colleague, Stuart Douglas, Director of NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership — Specialist Estates Services (see HEJ — June 2025). With Judith Paget not able to attend in person, Pete Sellars told delegates her presentation would be one recorded in advance. Following her conference address and the next, from Stuart Douglas, the pair were joined on stage for a lively Q&A session by Simon Russell, Deputy Director of NHS Wales SSP SES, and Mark Gapper, the organisation's Head of Engineering.
Judith Paget began her address by thanking IHEEM and its Wales Branch for inviting her to speak. While sorry not to be able to attend, she said she was 'really grateful to have the opportunity to record this message to show how much value we place on the healthcare engineering and estate management role across our NHS in Wales'. She said: "I recognise that there are significant challenges across the NHS, which often reflect the age and condition of many parts of our estate. The engineering and estate management functions are key to ensuring healthcare services across hospitals and other healthcare facilities can operate efficiently and effectively and maintain business continuity." She added that she very much appreciates 'the commitment of all colleagues who are working tirelessly to deliver clinical services compliantly and safely'.
"Today," she explained, "I'd like to briefly outline some of the challenges for the NHS in Wales, and highlight some of the ways in which the estate can help respond to these. The pressures on our services remain, and we are dealing with these alongside a very difficult and pressing financial position." Against this backdrop, she said it was the healthcare EFM and healthcare engineering community's 'collective responsibility' to make sure it continued to rise to these challenges, and ensure that NHS Wales services 'remain safe and accessible to those that need them the most'.
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.
