Women in Estates

Welcome

Find out more about some of our great estates teams 

Hello I’m Tracey, Managing Director of NTW Solutions

On this page you can meet some of the fantastic women who work in our estates teams. We’ve chosen that because it’s an area that has traditionally been male dominated but where we have increasing numbers of women working in our teams. We strive to be a great and inclusive place to work and we recognise the benefits of diversity and part of that is about encouraging those who might not thought about some of our roles to have a fresh look.

We’ve got women working across our estates teams doing a real variety of jobs and you can hear directly from them here. We have people coordinating capital projects, tackling our carbon emissions, managing our property portfolio, and making sure we have a safe and well maintained estate.

It’s inspiring to read these stories and makes me proud to be Managing Director of NTW Solutions.

Meet some of our teams in Estates

Hear from some of our people about what the job is like and what it is like to work here

I’m Janet, a Mechanical Engineer

I work at Hopewood Park Hospital in Sunderland and because of that the role is really varied and there are no two days the same.  You can be called to a whole range of issues that you need to work with your colleagues to resolve.

A big part of we do is planned preventative maintenance, which is about making sure that things don’t go wrong in the first place. Not everyone knows this but lots of our buildings are a floor taller than people think and the extra floor has a lot of the services running through them, such as pipework and wires and other pieces of equipment. The whole idea is that we can keep access to the clinical environments to an absolute minimum and not disturb the teams. So for example, we can service toilets, showers, taps and other equipment for patient bedrooms without ever stepping foot on the ward.

We also get called to reactive maintenance when something has gone wrong and that’s about thinking on your feet and working together to put things right and solving problems as best you can. A lot of what we do is governed by very strict safety standards across everything we do. It is important to maintain standards to keep staff, patients and visitors safe and well. It’s a rewarding job because we know that we are keeping a hospital running and we can make a difference. 

Hi, I’m Gayle, Property Manager

I am responsible for space allocation across our estate and while that might sound quite simple it’s a really complex juggling act. As clinical and other teams need for space changes we need to ensure they have the accommodation they need to do their jobs. That might be about space within the buildings we own but there’s also a range of leased buildings we operate from across a wide geographical area.

Some of our teams are specialist and need specialist accommodation and it’s about trying to make the best use of the space we have. There’s a huge variety to what we do and it is a giant complex jigsaw puzzle, or playing chess in four dimensions. One office move can have a huge knock on effect potentially across a range of different sites.

We also manage the PFI contracts for CNTW and that’s about making sure that those contracts are working for us and we’re getting what we need from the contract. Juggling all the demands we face is a huge challenge but it’s also what makes the job rewarding at the end of the day.

Hi, I’m Cara, Energy and Low Carbon Manager

My role focuses on our work to become carbon neutral by 2040. It’s a huge challenge but one that I’m up for taking on. The largest element of our carbon footprint is the use of fossil fuels for building energy and a big part of my job is looking at funding sources for alternative energy provision. We have reduced our carbon footprint by 7% over the past three years but we have much more to do.

We have a complex estate but we have many advantages in that most of our sites have space should we need it to house alternative energy generation technology for example. In addition, the nature of CNTW’s clinical services means that many of our buildings are low density which provides plenty of roof space for solar panels.

Part of what makes me passionate about this work is that there are so many advantages of delivering our Green Plan. This includes cleaner air on our sites as we electrify our fleet of vehicles. In addition, our sites will also be greener with greater biodiversity with more space for wildflowers and trees. And moves to sustainable energy sources can shield us from price fluctuations in energy costs and that money can be reinvested back into patient care. There is so much work to do but I’m excited that the benefits of achieving our targets which will be felt by everyone.

Hi, I’m Danni, a Capital Projects Officer

I work in our Capital Team and have been involved in most of the major schemes we have delivered over the last few years. I’d previously worked in an architectural practice when I got the opportunity to join the Trust, I’d know from a young age I wanted to work in the design and construction industry as no day is the same and every project is different. The job is a mix of imagination and experience, you have to use your imagination to picture how designs will work, alongside your experience of how people use spaces in reality.

 

What we do is really important but you if we get it right you may never notice, for example, choosing the right colours for the right function of a space is crucial, with calming colours, or more energetic ones for spaces like the new sports facilities at Northgate Park. It’s satisfying to see a scheme completed and in particular to get feedback from clinicians that new developments have benefited patient care. A highlight for me was delivering the new medical education centre because the brief was to make it stand out so we got to use colours, materials and furniture that we don’t necessarily use elsewhere.

 

I can’t always switch off and could be on holiday and I’ll see a hotel carpet and the trade name will pop into my head, or I’ll recognise a design of a chair. Ultimately what we do is about turning plans into reality and there’s a huge satisfaction of seeing a finished building or refurbishment and there’s a massive sense of accomplishment from that.

We are Alison and Jacqui, we are Technical Information Officers

We’re locally known within the Estates department as the Compliance Team.  At the heart of our job is ensuring that our estate is a safe place for patients, staff and visitors alike. Our role within that is managing our Estates IT systems which ultimately ensures that all inspections and maintenance is carried out. Just taking statutory compliance as an example, each area has different risk assessments and reports as well as having different manufacturers and maintenance requirements. We upload all of these onto our compliance system and crucially make sure any actions are logged on the system, enabling the responsible officer to follow these up and action them.

We oversee our online helpdesk system which allows people to report any faults or issues, but it also manages our planned preventative maintenance tasks. That’s essential to make sure all inspections and routine maintenance is carried out, so we work to a very high degree of accuracy. We must have a detailed understanding of our buildings to make sure this happens.

We are also involved in new capital developments because once the buildings are operational, they need to be maintained so we need to know exactly what equipment is in the building, its servicing requirements, and how the building works operationally. That knowledge then feeds the system and makes sure that the right maintenance is carried out at the right time. For large developments we prefer to get out and look around them to make sure our systems reflect how the building operates and we did this most recently for the new Sycamore Unit at Northgate Park.

We have pride in our jobs knowing that we ensure that the helpdesk, maintenance and compliance systems are in place and that helps keep people safe.

Who are NTW Solutions?

NTW Solutions Limited is proud to provide services to the NHS. We keep hospitals clean and patients fed and we keep buildings running and grounds tidy. Our pharmacy team ensures patients get the medicine they need, and our workforce team recruits people onto the frontline. We transcribe thousands of important medical letters, provide a lease car service to keep people on the move, and ensure suppliers are paid on time.

We are dedicated to being a great inclusive place to work. We provide a wide range of benefits including a good rate of pay and pension and an extensive range of discounts. We care about health and wellbeing and offer a range of support for the people who work here.

We believe everyone has potential and welcome applications from people from a culturally diverse background, those who are LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, anyone who is unemployed or has been out of work for a period of time, or those who have served in our armed forces.

We were set up by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust to provide support services. As a limited company we have built a commercial ethos onto our NHS values and now provide our services to other NHS organisations and beyond.

We make a difference to people’s lives and working here is fulfilling and rewarding. Our social purpose is also driving our plans to become net zero and to tackle discrimination and champion equality. Working here means joining a friendly bunch of people dedicated to supporting better care.

Find out more about us

Our Services

Find out more about who we are and the services we provide

Benefits of working here

Find out more about the benefits of working at NTW Solutions

Meet Some Of Our Teams

Meet some of the people who work at NTW Solutions and hear more about what they do

A day in the life

Find our more about what we do and the how we support better care

Our Charitable Work

Find out more about the charities that we support

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Find out more about how we strive to be a great and inclusive employer

Our Green Plan

Find our more about our work to become net zero

Find out more about us on social media