The Estates Director is Missing
Emma Bolton, Chief Executive of Sewell Advisory, examines the mystery of the missing estates director, and explains why it’s so crucial that the estates function is represented on healthcare boards.
“I’ve been working with boards in local government, the NHS, and the private sector for longer than I care to remember. In my current role in the private sector, I hold 14 board directorships, but although I’ve been part of NHS executive teams in the past, as an NHS staff member I was never invited to be a member of a board.
And no, this wasn’t just about me! I’ve done some research, and of over 200 NHS Trusts in the country, only 30 had a director that dealt with estates on the board, with less than half of those having a voting directorship
Of the few directorship roles that had an estates angle, many had multiple responsibilities. My favourite was the director who was Deputy CEO, Director of Strategy and SRO – that’s a lot of responsibility for one person!
Many of those directors responsible for estates were finance directors. Whilst it’s great that they have some sort of estates role in their portfolio, I feel that finance people often look at estates through a finance lens – they think about costs, but don’t necessarily understand the technical and strategic nuances that a pure estates director would.
So estates directors are missing from boards. Why is that a problem?
Firstly, it’s a problem for estates people. We often see ourselves as a ‘Cinderella’ service – we toil away in the background, while everyone else gets to go to the ball. With NHS buildings and facilities costing more than £12 billion to run last year, and with backlog maintenance adding up to nearly as much again, it’s vital that those keeping the estate running have a voice at the top table.
It’s also essential for the reputation of the estates function that we have a clear path to the top. If you’re a young, talented and ambitious graduate choosing a career, seeing estates professionals hitting a glass ceiling may make you opt for a different sector. If we want the best people, we need to offer the best opportunities.
And why is the lack of estates directors on boards a problem for the wider NHS?
Boards are now being asked to think differently, so how better to do this than bringing in new people and fresh perspectives?
Last year, nearly 4,500 clinical incidents were caused by failures in the estates and facilities infrastructure. This is what happens when estates directors are sidelined. Estates directors are absolutely crucial to keeping people safe, and given the board are legally responsible for making sure patients and staff are kept out of harm’s way, it feels like excluding estates staff from major decisions is risky.
There’s also a financial angle. If we can have a voice on the board, we can ensure future spending prioritises improvements to the health estate, and also understand why competing priorities may mean that estate spend has to take a back seat sometimes. Instead of estates being an afterthought, we can have a key role at the beginning of projects, ensuring that the infrastructure is in place to ensure clinical, staffing and operational projects succeed.
Finally, estates professionals have a valuable set of skills that can be missing if the board is filled with finance and clinical staff. We’re experienced at managing projects and risk, good in a disaster, analytical, and we can spot problems before they arise. We’re also great at spotting opportunities across systems – we have the tools (or the buildings) to bring clinical specialities, and different public sector organisations, together.
So, we’ve accepted that it’s a great idea to have estates people on your board. How do we make that happen?
It’s the role of all estates staff to champion the estates function. Highlight the importance of estates with everyone you speak to, and make sure you’re visible in your organisation. It’s hard to ignore someone who refuses to stay silent!
Have the confidence that you’re doing an important job, and mentor junior staff to make sure that they know the value of their role. My motto is always ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ – if you want people to think you deserve to be on their board, you need to act like a board member. Many (if not all) of the NHS England ‘Fit and Proper Person Test’ for board members are covered by codes of conduct for Chartered Surveyors, so you shouldn’t have any doubt that you’re right for the role.
Talk to colleagues who’ve been in board roles, and ask them for advice. Try and get as much board exposure as possible and, when you get it, make your voice heard. And ask the question – if you’re appointed to a senior role, enquire if you’ll be on the board and, if not, why not? It’ll give you an insight into how estates is regarded in the organisation.
It’s incremental steps, but every success you have eases the way for your successors. Between us all, we can make sure estates has the voice it deserves.”
Emma Bolton has had 20 years’ experience working in local government, the NHS and the private sector. She’s overseen parts of CQC/NHS England’s ‘Well Led’ assessments of boards, she’s passionate about estates, and is currently shouting about the value of estates whenever she attends any of the 14 boards of which she holds a directorship.
Emma is Chief Executive of Sewell Advisory, a 60 person-strong estates consultancy which works extensively with the health sector to solve estates challenges.
Head back to the Estates forum 2025 round up
We’ve summarised some of the topics we discussed on the day – if you have any questions, or want to continue the conversation, get in touch with any of our speakers direct, or drop us a line.
