This week’s budget saw the announcement of new funding to improve NHS buildings - £2.6bn over the next five years. The first allocations were announced for Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships judged to have the highest quality bids, including several schemes focused on primary care and integrating services in the community. Government also highlighted in the budget detail the role of private sector investment in improving the NHS’ estate.
The capital comes alongside plans to increase housebuilding and to improve the system requiring developers to help with the costs of local infrastructure for new communities.
Our CEO, Jonathan Murphy, says: “It would be easy, given the enormity of the pressures facing the NHS, to treat its buildings and infrastructure as tomorrow’s problem. However, every day, GPs highlight the challenges associated with a lack of space, poor layout, restricted access for patients with disabilities and maintaining older buildings which make their jobs even more difficult. That’s why today’s additional capital for NHS buildings is so welcome. However, given the estimate that it would take at least £10bn to make the NHS estate fit for the future, it is not the whole solution.
“As the Naylor Review made clear, other sources of funding, like third party development, play an essential role in delivering a future proofed NHS estate. In conjunction with our colleagues across the sector, we’ve proposed an additional £3bn of joint investment in primary care buildings over five years through third party development – creating 750 new medical centres across the country.
“Ensuring the right healthcare infrastructure is there for patients in new communities will be essential to fully realising the Government’s housebuilding ambitions, so we’re pleased to see plans to improve the system of developer contributions towards local infrastructure. It is an enduring frustration that consideration of healthcare often falls short in master-planning, so progress on this will help deliver effective primary care to new communities around the country.”