Behind the scenes with Tony Hudgell
There are over 350 different careers in the NHS and everyone makes a difference to people’s lives every day. We go behind the scenes with some of the less well known ones and find out how they help the NHS, and North Mid, run.
One of these people is Tony Hudgell, head of estates and facilities. We caught up with him for our most recent edition of True North.
Hi Tony, tell us about your role?
As the head of estates and facilities, I have an overall responsibility to deliver some very high value contracts which incorporates all the servicing and certification of the building services. This includes Bouygues who provide the services to the buildings and Medirest who provides domestic, catering, security, helpdesk, portering, and waste services for the Trust. Other services include the non-emergency patient transport service, via DHL, and various other services which are provided to the Trust. I am also responsible for water management, health and safety and oxygen management across the hospital. As you can tell it’s a very varied role!
What is a typical day like for you?
My day generally starts at around 6.30am everyday. This is to ensure I can get ahead of the day. I attend several meetings to gain updates on the projects and contracts that I manage as well as resolve issues and requests which may arise. Amongst all of this, I head up a team of 24 people who aim to provide the best possible service to our clinical colleagues.
How does your role fit within the organisation?
In my opinion we are key players in how the hospital runs as we facilitate so many services for the Trust. It would be quite a challenge to run an organisation without my team’s input.
How did you become interested in this field?
I have an engineering background and since leaving the Royal Air Force, I have always been in an environment where I have maintained or serviced various pieces of equipment and machinery. Over the years, my career has developed and therefore my responsibilities have expanded – hospital maintenance and building projects are second nature to me.
How did you begin your career?
After 10 and half years in the Royal Air Force as an armament technician, I completed a tour in Northern Ireland and two tours in the Falkland Islands. I am very proud of my time in the Air Force and very privileged to have visited so many different parts of the world.
In 1986 I left the Air Force and started working in a factory as a mechanical maintenance engineer and then the Chief Engineer (I was either making machines that made cakes or ice-cream for M&S). After being made redundant I then started working for a service provider in Oxford and was approached by the NHS to provide the estates and facilities service across three hospitals in Oxfordshire. I then joined North Mid as a PFI (Private Funded Initiative) Contract Manager in January 2016, and was promoted three months later to the head of the department.
Read Tony's interview and more in the latest edition of True North.