NHS Property Services has announced that over the next three years it will deliver over 100 key ‘transformational’ projects that will ‘make essential improvements to the healthcare estate for the benefit of patients, and healthcare profession'.
It says the projects ‘will be integral in helping to support the health service’, by:
- benefiting approximately 1.2 million patients up and down the country.
- releasing £150 million in savings that can be reinvested in frontline patient care.
- As the NHS faces further backlogs of over two million operations, the money released through disposals could fund approximately 22,00 hip replacements.
NHSPS said: “These projects will improve current facilities – include the building of new healthcare centres – such as a new hospital in Hythe & Dibden – and dispose of vacant space within the NHS. In addition to reinvesting in frontline patient care, we will deliver on the NHS Long Term Plan by creating green prescribing sites that will provide patients with a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. These will also address the rising need for mental health services as a result of COVID, which is becoming ever more important.” Alongside the refurbishment of space, the projects will see the disposal of unused space, releasing up to £150 m in savings for reinvestment back into frontline patient care.
NHSPS is working closely with its customers on these projects, using its national and regional expertise to solve local healthcare problems and support the delivery of Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) plans. For some localities this will see the development of brand-new facilities – such as a new a new hospital in Hythe. For others, such as Whitby Hospital, the focus will be on refurbishments, or the re-purposing of space, as at Kennedy Way in Clacton.
The programme will also repurpose space to deliver projects that support the NHS’s Long Term Plan, such as social prescribing provision, which will help the health service in its drive to provide a more holistic approach to health and wellbeing. In addition, the projects will release surplus estate for around 2,000 housing units by 2023/4. This is in addition to the 4,000 already released to support housing targets.
Simon Taylor, head of Portfolio Optimisation, NHS Property Services said: “At a time when the NHS is facing challenges never seen before, these projects will be integral in helping to support the health service moving forwards. By using the estate more efficiently, over the coming years we can provide better quality spaces for the provision of healthcare, which will improve patients’ experience, and create better environments for healthcare professionals to deliver care.
“Across all of our projects we are working with local and regional NHS teams to understand their priorities and how we can develop and deliver solutions together. Using our knowledge and experience of working with NHS teams across the country, we have also, importantly, been able to help share learnings and scale up best practice that already exists within the health service.”
Examples of the projects implemented include:
- Hythe & Dibden War Memorial Hospital: This new build project will provide a range of health and wellbeing services for local people including outpatients, therapy, and diagnostic services, plus specialist community dentistry. It was chosen over the alternative of refurbishing existing buildings, as it will mean a better environment for patients and staff, and a smaller carbon footprint, while releasing surplus land for disposal.
- Kennedy House, Clacton: The scheme will see two GP practices – Clacton’s Epping Close Surgery and Holland-on-Sea’s Frinton Road Medical Centre – move into refurbished space at Kennedy House in Kennedy Way. The surgeries currently have almost 9,000 patients, but the new facility could support 12,000, with eight consulting rooms, seven treatment rooms, a phlebotomy room, and a digital facility.
- Whitby Hospital: Whitby Hospital in North Yorkshire is undergoing an upgrading process as part of a £13 m scheme to modernise and remodel the ‘tower block’ structure on the Springhill hospital site, and the consolidation of clinical and support services within it.
NHS Property Services’ overall portfolio comprises around 3,500 properties.
