In 2017, we supported Reform on a project to explore how better primary care buildings could help the NHS, and how they might be funded.
The think tank has returned to the topic following recent government announcements on creating a long-term plan for NHS capital investment and improving the process for decision-making on NHS capital projects.
Reform has produced a factsheet on the issue:
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Primary-care-Fact-Sheetpdf Reform 2019
As our CEO, Jonathan Murphy, blogged as Reform’s project report was launched in 2018: “At a time when there is such focus on the clinical struggles for the NHS, with hospitals at full capacity and a flu outbreak adding to the long list of year-round pressures, it may seem incongruous to be talking about the primary care estate. Yet investing in GP premises offers a significant opportunity for the NHS. Better buildings for primary care allow for scaled-up healthcare closer to home, and can help relieve some of the current pressures.
“Giving GPs the infrastructure they need will never eliminate pressure on hospitals...But creating the right facilities and space so that more patients can be diagnosed and treated away from hospital, and using them effectively – whatever the season – is an effective way to ease it.”