The NHS continues to face significant financial pressures. With integrated care boards recently tasked with cutting running costs by 50 per cent, there’s an urgent need to rethink how we deliver excellent patient care while reducing expenditure.
Our recently launched NHS Estate Optimisation Guide is now available to NHS leaders and estate professionals, offering a timely and practical resource to support the ambitions of the forthcoming NHS 10-Year Health Plan.
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Transforming the NHS estate
Estate optimisation is now critical to meeting patient needs and NHS reform. Government ambitions for the NHS – such as shifting to neighbourhood hubs and enhancing preventive care – require a flexible, efficient estate. Empty or underused spaces must be transformed to support modern diagnostics and out-of-hospital services. Our guide provides NHS leaders with the right practical steps to unlock the full potential of their estate to improve productivity, using the expertise and knowledge of the property experts across NHSPS and the wider system.
Role of NHS Property Services
At NHS Property Services (NHSPS), we help ICBs and trusts maximise their estates’ potential. Based on extensive experience (and managing 10 per cent of the NHS estate), we’ve developed a practical guide for estate leaders to use buildings more efficiently, delivering better value without compromising care.
Our goal is to continue to develop more collaborative, sustainable ways of working. Research shows NHS buildings can be up to 40 per cent underutilised, and poor data visibility hampers effective management. Nearly 90 per cent of estate leaders report only a low or medium understanding of space usage, and many lack the budget or capacity to optimise vacant areas.
Support and tools
This is where NHSPS can help. We provide expert support to identify and unlock the potential of existing estate, ensuring it meets community needs and delivers value. One key tool is NHS Open Space, an award-winning space management platform that helps leaders to understand their estate through utilisation monitoring and provide a booking solution to manage and drive optimisation daily.
With more than 10,000 NHS buildings covering 25 million square metres, property is a major expense. Revitalising existing estate is essential to building a future-ready NHS.
Case Studies
Belmont Health Centre
Three GP practices and a community provider serving 20,000+ patients needed more space. NHSPS held the head lease, with 30 per cent vacant space costing £110,000 annually. We helped unlock £1.6m in capital to refurbish the building, adding consulting rooms, a new reception, and improved accessibility. The space is now fully utilised, costs reduced, and patient capacity increased.
Crocus GP Surgery
Facing lease expiry and an unsuitable listed building, the practice relocated to an unused wing of Saffron Walden Community Hospital. This tripled their space and created a central, modern hub with improved access to services integrated with the hospital.
Greater Manchester Mental Health Foundation Trust
Manual room booking led to inefficient space use. By onboarding to NHS Open Space, the trust achieved 21 per cent cost efficiency and 32 per cent savings through better utilisation.
Conclusion
These examples show how smart estate management can unlock value, improve care, and support NHS transformation. With the right tools and expertise, we can ensure the NHS estate meets the demands of today – and tomorrow.
