Mortar mouth

John Yates is the NHS's first housing co-ordinator - or czar, to adopt favoured government slang. He is employed by London regional office to work across the capital and the South East.

Last Friday he launched the city's accommodation bureau - an information technology system which will act as a central lettings agency and match NHS staff needs to available accommodation.

Perhaps more significantly, next month will see the opening of Pentland House, former halls of residence refurbished by housing association Peabody Unite, which will offer 125 units for nursing staff from Greenwich and Lewisham.

Staff will pay£82 per week, including bills. The deal was the first of a number planned to ensure that Mr Yates - who took up his appointment in April - meets London's targets to provide 2,000 extra accommodation places for nurses by the end of next year.

Mr Yates reckons he will be 'about one quarter' way towards meeting that target by the autumn.

He says the economies of scale which the region can offer, over trusts working individually, have ensured that the deal will shave 'about 30 per cent' off commercial prices. Next month the region will open its first staff hotel, in the City, offering 26 rooms to staff at about£35 per night, for staff needing overnight stays, those on secondment or in the process of relocating.

Mr Yates has some early wins under his belt.

But the former NHS manager with a background in estates and capital management is aware of the scale of the challenge ahead.

'There are approximately 350,000 NHS staff who at current salaries cannot afford to rent or purchase accommodation. That is the nature of the problem. In many ways it is the same for the whole of the public sector, and indeed anyone earning between£12,000 and£40,000 in London.'

Figures released by HM Land Registry office hit the front page of London's Evening Standard on the day HSJ met Mr Yates. Covering April-June 2000, they showed an average price of£193,004 for London property overall. The price of a flat or maisonette was put at£164,962.

Mr Yates is personally aware of the difficulties for people priced out of the market. The 56-yearold, who comes from Blackburn, admits that 'as a northerner, London was always seen as somewhere very expensive - somewhere you went for the weekend'.

With two of his grown-up children living in the capital, there has been little to change that view. Now living near Cambridge, and in the process of moving house locally, Mr Yates insists: 'I could live in London quite happily'- but he chooses not to.

Recognition that NHS staff face the same problems as other public sector workers is at the heart of Mr Yates'approach.He has been working closely with the Greater London Assembly on the issue - and is due to meet shortly with representatives from the Metropolitan Police and the capital's education authorities.

But surely the NHS needs to hang on to all the housing it can find? Mr Yates thinks not. 'We don't want to fight anybody for anything.'.

'As the largest employer of staff we are happy to assist others and there are benefits for us too.

Working together we can build up a much bigger and more flexible pool of accommodation.'

He believes a cultural shift in the public sector shown by the death of the internal market and the NHS plan's statements on improving working lives is evidence that a more 'benevolent' approach might be back in vogue.

And while that might mean a more paternalistic stance on housing, Mr Yates promises that housing for NHS staff will ensure they retain their independence: 'It's a long way away from the draconian rules and regulations of the traditional nurses home.'

NHS man, born and bred John Yates began his career at Bradford A hospital management committee, and spent 13 years in administrative and management roles. In 1975 he became a project manager for Trent regional health authority, overseeing the developments of projects, including Glenfield Hospital, Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital.

From 1984-86 he was deputy capital service planner for Yorkshire RHA, and from 1986 was service capital planner for East Anglia RHA, a role he kept when he became regional estates manager in 1990.Secondments have seen him working in the NHS private finance unit, and working as acting project director for Peterborough Hospitals trust. In 1996 he moved into private sector consultancy, working for Capital Solutions, a trading company which became part of NHS Estates last year.