Can the estate be ‘an enabler’?

HEJ editor Jonathan Baillie reports.

The session, which followed a typically thoughtprovoking address by NHS writer, broadcaster, and commentator, Roy Lilley, looking at some of the potential ramifications of the Government’s Health and Social Care Bill, was chaired by Bill Millar, governance and compliance manager, Estates and Facilities Directorate, at the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, and a member of IHEEM’s Council, as well as a former chair of the Institute’s Education Committee. Opening the presentations and the debate was Peter Sellars, head of the ProCure21+ programme, and deputy director of Gateway Reviews and Estates and Facilities Division at the Department of Health. Also on the panel were Kevin Oxley, commercial director at the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, and Roy Lilley. Peter Sellars told the audience at the outset: “Addressing the title of this session straight away, I personally do not think that, going forward, the estate really can act as an enabler. If you look at the key statistics, you can see just how large the NHS estate is – it occupies a total floor area of some 27 million square metres, and is currently valued at around £44 billion, with a book value to replace it of around £82 bn. “We spend around £7 bn every year to maintain it, while, according to selfreported statistics, 6.3 per cent of the overall estate is under-utilised; a figure that has actually gone down from 7.3% in the previous reported year. Currently, the space that is not functionally suitable is 14.1%, down from 16.8% in 2009-10.”

Empty property