Prime has been appointed as the Commercial Developer Partner for Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust following a competitive tender process.
The UK-based health and care property developer, investment manager, and operator, says the partnership will ‘foster long-term collaboration focused on delivering a sustainable future for the hospital estate’, with a series of key developments set to get underway on a plot of land adjacent to the site, which the Trust purchased in 2021.
Leighton Chumbley, Chief Executive at Prime, said: “While the NHS embodies the core principles of universal care, the challenges it faces are undeniable. Public-private partnerships offer a solution – not as a step toward privatisation, but as a collaborative effort to strengthen and support the NHS. By working together, institutional investors and healthcare providers can create lasting, positive change that reinforces the system’s capacity to serve future generations.”
Prime and the Trust say the partnership will deliver ‘a comprehensive masterplan of future developments, shaping the Trust’s future expansion with a focus on maximising the potential of the hospital’s estate’.
The ‘outline vision’ draws on the Trust’s successes in delivering improved and expanded facilities such as the recently opened £34 m Emergency Department and £20 m Urgent Treatment Centre, which the two organisations say ‘showcases innovative architecture, using sustainable building techniques’, and is ‘in harmony with the existing hospital infrastructure’.
Initial plans centre on moving non-patient-facing activities out of the main hospital building, freeing up critical space for patient care, and integrating the expansion land with the existing site. The partnership will also seek to develop an on-site staff and student accommodation facility, and deliver a new sterile services unit, and a new private healthcare facility.
The development of the expansion land will provide the space and infrastructure for further healthcare developments and service expansion on the site. Prime says the new developments will ‘prioritise environmentally friendly practices’, incorporating renewable energy such as solar panels to decarbonise the site. Biodiversity enhancement will be supported through wildlife corridors and sustainable drainage, while transport connections will promote cycling, walking, and public transport use.
Julian Auckland-Lewis, director for the Trust’s Capital Development Programme, said: “We are excited to be working with Prime on the next phase of our Way Forward Programme, which seeks to create a hospital environment fit for the growing needs of residents in Swindon and the surrounding areas.
“Following our new Emergency Department’s opening late last year, our focus now turns to three key projects we hope to get underway this year on the 5.5 hectare site adjacent to the hospital, and we know the expertise and resource Prime will bring will help us accelerate this work.”
