Co-Director of Estates Services, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Having graduated with an Honours degree in Engineering, Alan spent the first thirteen years of his career in Industry undertaking roles in Project Management, Engineering Management, Business Process Re-engineering and Operations Management within several local and multinational organisations including polymer processing, telecoms and the food industry. During this time, Alan completed a further Master’s degree in Business Administration and achieved the professional status of Chartered Engineer.
He took up the post of Director of Estates and Facilities in an acute health trust in 2003, prior to the Review of Public Administration (RPA), covering all aspects of buildings, infrastructure, equipment and support services. He successfully established accredited Quality Management systems within several services and oversaw the transfer of domestic and catering functions from a contracted service to an in-house service. As part of RPA, he managed the merger of the estates functions from four legacy trusts to form the new Estates function within the Southern Trust and was appointed Head of Estates. During this time, he continued to develop and refine his service and was awarded the professional status of Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Fellow of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estates Management.
Alan moved to the Belfast Trust in 2018 – attaining a distinction at MSc level in Business Improvement in the same year. Working with a team of c300 professional, maintenance and support staff, together with over 450 specialist contractors, Alan and his team seek to deliver an effective, efficient and sustainable, people-centred service in support of the delivery of healthcare, striving to deliver facilities that are comfortable, safe and fit for purpose.
A keen advocate of professional standards and of cross Trust working, Alan actively supports a number of collaborative groups across the region in the pursuit of an ever-improving Estates Service.