New Hospitals Programme
Christopher Shaw
Founder of Medical Architecture (now retired) and past Chair of Architects for Health
UK Secretary of State for Health, Steve Barclay, announced earlier this week that planned capital funding was unlikely to be adequate to deliver the current New Hospitals Programme for the NHS in England. This comes as no surprise given the background to the programme, constraints on UK government debt evident in the last two financial statements and the high level of inflation in UK construction.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has given assurance that the NHP will continue to be funded, however we have already seen the scope for shifting targets in the programme. ?Projects that had been commissioned years earlier and smaller community projects being brought under this “New Hospital” banner. It feels as though another rethink is coming that reflects the new economic circumstances.
What are we likely to see in the coming months:
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It’s important that flagship NHP projects are not confused with general NHS infrastructure capital investment (though it may be politically appealing to do so). The substantial challenges of backlog maintenance, system redesign, bed capacity, carbon reduction, automation and IT modernisation will continue.
The false-starts and lack of progress to date has I think had unforeseen consequences. The very small UK pool of skilled estates professionals, contractors, engineers and architects who understand how to plan, design, construct and commission modern health infrastructure simply move on to other countries, or like me retire.
Leader of Thammasat University Research Unit in Resilient Innovation
2 年Rethinking design specifications to help reduce the likelihood of healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) could create significant benefits for all parties. Guest et al. (2020) estimated that during 2016/2017 the cost of HCAI within the NHS hospitals in England was ￡2.7?billion. HCAI caused around 28,500 patient mortalities, 79,700 days of absence of front-line healthcare professionals, and 7.1?million additional occupied hospital bed days (around 21% of the annual number of all bed days).
UHD New Hospitals Programme Head of Capital.
2 年I agree with you Chris about the small pool of estate professionals, designers, etc and the need to standardise clinical pathways as well. We do need to address these issues. We have a different perspective on the standardisation of the estate. I think there are many different views about MMC and off site construction but the NHP standardisation and platform approach provides an alternative that should facilitate real scope for change. We cannot continue hospital construction the way it has been done up to this point. I am fortunate to be involved in the NHP initiative for standardisation (as part of cohort 2) and it aligns with my own conclusions (after 35 years of design) that we must change our way of thinking if we are to create better value hospitals. By ‘better value’ I am not just referring to capital cost but to whole life costs, carbon use, functional efficiency, asset management, backlog reduction, etc. as well as visual and spatial delight. The NHP programme is calling for a wide range of contributions from the industry to help develop the design and specification for ‘Hospital 2.0’. I would urge all designers, suppliers, PSCPs, contractors and ‘retired’ experts to get involved.
Leading International Clinical Health Planner
2 年No change there then. Hell on a handcart
Project Consultant - Healthcare and HE Sectors
2 年Good article
Built Environment Infection Prevention Control Consultant Nurse
2 年I think it's interesting...some said from the beginning it wouldn't be enough, however, backlog maintenance is a bigger issue and that's just maintaining the status quo. So... I think if the status quo is costing you more than to start again...why not start again if its less in terms of cost? These are the conversations that people are afraid to have!