Director and Head of Profession of NHS Estates and Facilities

NHS England Commercial Directorate

Biography

After some 16 years in the private sector, advising the NHS and successfully growing and managing a team of property, clinical planning consultants and analysts, Simon returned to the public sector in 2017 to lead the estates and facilities function across the NHS which now includes both the secondary and primary care sectors.  The role at NHS England (NHSE) is one that he relishes, building on the Carter Implementation Programme and Naylor Review. Following initial success in delivering the Model Hospital and efficiency savings, he is taking forward and broadening out the NHS estates agenda. This includes the primary care estate, sustainability and ICS Infrastructure Strategies, Procure 23 and delivery of the Health Infrastructure Programmes announced by the Prime Minister in 2019. Simon lead the NHS Estates response to the Covid-19 pandemic including the delivery of 7 Nightingale hospitals (in April 2020) with over 3,500 critical care beds in a matter of weeks.

Since originally joining NHS Improvement in May 2017, Simon has recruited a team aligned to the five core Initiatives, of Commercial Acumen, Workforce, Net Zero, Operational Efficiency, Standardisation, Delivery and Strategy.

In addition Simon and the team have:

Headed up the delivery of a successful response of the NHS to the Grenfell tragedy;

Led responses to several critical and urgent issues, such as the collapse of Carillion;

Delivered both additional capital funding and investment into the NHS;

Started the improvement of NHS hospital design nationally with the New for Old programme;

Reinstated the NHS Estates Technical Standards and Guidance programme;

Improved assurance of NHS estate safety, effectiveness and governance through the updating and mandatory implementation of the NHS Premises Assurance Model (NHS PAM);

Supported the NHS in delivering significant financial savings in recent years;

Reconfigured and expanded the NHS Estates Division to cover primary care and regional teams;

Regularly met with many stakeholders in the NHS estate including the devolved nation leads from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales;

Delivered improved Model Hospital metrics for NHS estates and facilities;

Represented the NHS on the NHS Strategic Infrastructure Board chaired by DHSC Ministers as well being a member of the Capital Development Committee;

Delivery of the EFM Workforce Action Plan

SRO for the mitigation of RAAC across the NHS estate

An accredited Gateway Reviewer and Project Director, Simon understands the need for commercial, innovative and deliverable solutions.  In his role at NHSE and a key member of the NHS Capital Approval Panels (JIC and JISC) he is using his skills and experiences to bring fresh ideas and drive to improve the quality and efficiency of estates and facilities management across the NHS.