Published date: 05 March 2019
Opening opportunity with NHS Open Space
NHS Open Space is an innovative new bookable NHS scheme centred on flexibility and getting the most value out of the NHS’s estates. With the project due to open in Spring 2019, Christopher King, NHS Property Services' (NHSPS) senior strategic asset manager who leads the Open Space programme, tells more to the National Health Executive.
The future of the NHS has once again taken national centre-stage with the long-term plan published earlier this month. A key theme is the utilisation of technology to improve patient care and future-proof the NHS. The question is how the NHS estate can adapt not just to deliver the long-term plan, but other challenges such as the provision of additional community services to support patients once discharged, and alleviate the increasing pressures on acute care.
Since 2016, NHS Property Services has been developing a hybrid estate and technology solution to “sessional space” – clinical and non-clinical rooms available to be booked on an hourly, sessional, or daily basis. This flexible space is vital in providing services with cost-effective access to local communities.
