Many NHS buildings are sitting empty for much of the day. In fact, our research shows they’re underutilised almost 50% of the time.
So how can we make better use of these existing assets to help deliver Neighbourhood Health Centres quickly and affordably?
The launch of the 10 Year Health Plan reinforced goals to enable the now-familiar three shifts - bring care closer to communities, embrace digital tools, and focus more on prevention.
Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) are central to this vision. These centres are designed to be open longer, serve local needs, and bring together services under one roof. The plan to deliver 120 NHCs by 2030, with 50 from repurposing the existing estate, is a good start, but how do we make this vision a reality and go further?
Public Private Partnerships have been identified as a key mechanism to progress this plan. While that work is underway, there is an opportunity to look at what we already have and begin making meaningful progress now.
Optimisation as a first step
Optimising the existing estate is a way to revitalise buildings, ensuring that they are fit for the future and the changing healthcare requirements for the communities they serve.
Many NHS and public sector buildings are in the right places, close to the communities they serve. With smarter usage and modest refurbishment or rearrangement, many could be transformed into Neighbourhood Health Centres at a much lower cost and on a much quicker timeline. It also provides the NHS with a low cost/ low risk opportunity to rapidly trial new ways of delivering neighbourhood services.
Through our own utilisation studies, we have found that NHS buildings are significantly under used. That presents a clear opportunity to optimise what we have and increase service delivery in support of the NHC vision.
By starting with the existing estate, we can begin to deliver NHCs in months rather than years and help to lay the groundwork for what is to come.
The NHSPS Healthy Places programme has already delivered over 450 projects since April 2020 for the NHS to provide additional primary and community care and diagnostic capacity – a proven track record of complex health project delivery.
Refurbish/repurpose existing estate vs new build provision
Refurbishing existing buildings (particularly those owned by the NHS) can often be completed in under a year.
It can be more cost-effective, and it allows us to test and refine the NHC model in real settings, including spaces that support service and workforce integration. It also helps us make better use of space that is already available and familiar to local communities.
Looking ahead
New infrastructure will be essential to delivering the full ambition of the plan. But starting with what we already have allows us to move faster, optimise existing funding, and begin making a difference sooner.
Find out more
In our new report, Making Neighbourhood Health Centres a Reality, we take a closer look at how the existing estate can support the delivery of NHCs.
The report includes our key recommendations and practical steps to deliver neighbourhood health services in improved facilities and at pace.
