We’re all busier than ever. Families are juggling school runs, work demands, and caring responsibilities. Patients are in need of more accessible care, and providers are under pressure to deliver more services with fewer resources. Against that backdrop, the NHS has a clear ambition: bring care closer to communities, improve access, and make better use of the NHS estate.
An enabler of that ambition is out-of-hours availability. Healthcare cannot remain bound by the traditional nine to five. The NHS 10 Year Health Plan makes it clear: for patients to truly get the right care, at the right time, in the right place, services need to adapt to modern lives.
NHS Open Space is an award-winning digital space management solution created for the NHS, by the NHS, to help make smarter use of healthcare spaces and bring services closer to communities. Its booking platform makes it easy for healthcare and wellbeing providers to book clinical and non-clinical rooms when they need them.
Why out-of-hours matters now more than ever
Out-of-hours healthcare is about more than convenience. It’s about equity, choice, and outcomes. Patients who can’t take time off work or who live far from main hospitals need options. Parents navigating the ADHD prescribing pathway, for example, often face months of delays. That’s where out-of-hours clinics are transformative.
Out-of-hours availability isn’t just about easing pressure on waiting lists; it’s about improving safety, reducing anxiety, and speeding up treatment.
Flexibility fuels recovery and innovation
Flexibility is also vital for service providers. During the rollout of a new screening programme, InHealth Group relied on NHS Open Space to extend services beyond weekdays.
Their story is being repeated across the country. Providers are using NHS Open Space to trial new, or expand, services — and extend reach into underserved communities.
Making the estate work harder
We cannot ignore the estate challenge. Too many NHS sites remain underutilised, often sitting empty in evenings or at weekends. That’s wasted opportunity. By making that space flexible and opening doors to providers through NHS Open Space, those rooms become hubs of community care — and patients get faster access in trusted NHS settings.
As we look ahead, the message is clear: healthcare delivery must be flexible, scalable, and closer to people’s lives. Out-of-hours availability will grow not just because it’s convenient, but because it’s necessary. To tackle waiting lists, widen access, and support prevention.
NHS Open Space is a key enabler of that future. It gives providers access to over 1,500 NHS rooms in 250+ locations — many of which provide out-of-hours availability — through an easy-to-use digital booking platform. Simple, flexible, affordable.
But more than that, it allows us to rethink what healthcare looks like when it’s built around people, not processes.
Because healthcare doesn’t stop at 5pm — and neither should access to it.
