In its latest report focusing on estates strategy and planning in the NHS, the Nuffield Trust says that a successful estates strategy must revolve around people.
In late 2017 and early 2018, the Nuffield Trust and the Realisation Collaborative brought teams from five local health systems together to consider some of the practical challenges to developing and implementing estates strategies in today’s NHS.
It was clear from the outset that the challenges experienced by these teams were far from unique, and insights about what would help resolve them had much wider relevance. It is those challenges and insights that form the basis of this latest report.
The most important conclusion of this piece of work is that people must be at the heart of every estates strategy. Any strategy that focuses entirely on the technical aspects of the location, size and funding of buildings, or that seeks to fit an off-the-shelf solution to a local problem, is doomed to failure.
The report states: "An effective organisation ensures through its estates strategy that people with the right skills and experience work in an environment that makes it easier for them to do their job properly. An effective system sees the efficient use of their combined estate and other infrastructure, such as IT, as a significant enabler to health and care staff working in partnership. And the whole point of organisations working in partnership in systems is to improve the experience of and outcomes for patients."
The report is aimed at local system leaders, national bodies and third party advisors and funders. The Nuffield Trust says it hopes that the report and the associated compendium of papers will provide a set of resources on which local system leaders can draw as they continue to develop their estates strategies following the initial submissions made to NHS England and NHS Improvement.
Click here to download the full report: 'Developing robust estates strategies: Challenges and opportunities.'
