COMMENT
FUTURE-PROOFING THE NHS
John McDonald, Director of Corporate Development at GRAHAM,
examines the pressures facing the NHS, and outlines the crucial
role BIM and smart buildings have to play in delivering a futureproof
built environment for the healthcare sector
As the NHS continues to face an uncertain
political landscape, coupled with the lasting
legacy of austerity, and a decline in capital
investment, there remain a number of tough
questions, particularly around how it can provide
modern, world class healthcare in the future.
Along with concerns about future funding
and sta , the NHS is also stretched by an ageing
population. Improvements in medical care, lifestyle
and diet mean more people are living for longer – a
fact borne out by research by the O ice for National
Statistics. The ageing population is having a direct
impact on the healthcare sector; 18 per cent of the
UK are now aged over 65 and 2.4 per cent are aged
over 85. This places a significant strain on an already
under resourced service.
Of course, construction doesn’t have all the
answers to resolve these complex, societal issues.
However, as an industry, we possess the expertise to
collaboratively implement solutions which can make
a meaningful contribution. The ability to
harness innovative technology will be
key to this.
MAXIMISING
PERFORMANCE OF
EXISTING ASSETS
Across the healthcare
sector, we are seeing
a new trend emerging
that has important
implications for the
delivery of health
services across the UK.
A greater number of NHS
trusts are focussing on lower
cost refurbishment and expansion
projects – with a focus on improving
sustainability and reducing carbon
footprints.
This change is happening in the context of a
wider shi towards integrated primary care hubs.
Investment is flowing away from acute care and
hospital infrastructure to projects that deliver
primary and community care facilities outside
the acute hospital system. An approach that can
accelerate the delivery of services to the public.
Integrated care hubs demonstrate the positive
impact that innovative design can have in
significantly enhancing the delivery of social
10 SEPTEMBER 2019
care. Considered design in retrofit and expansion
projects can create spaces where GP practices,
pharmacies and inpatient beds are all provided
in one development – in turn helping to reduce
bed blocking in hospitals. There is also a
significant opportunity to embrace the adoption
of standardised design and component solutions
driving e iciency in both Capital and revenue costs
for projects.
EMBRACING INNOVATION
Digital construction has an important role to play
in delivering these first class integrated primary
care facilities. Both by helping deliver new build
facilities for an estate, and by creating a data-rich
model of existing assets that provides a basis for
an e ective facilities management system. As the
construction industry looks to achieve the goals set
out in the Government’s ‘Construction 2025’ strategy
paper, including construction costs reduction
of 33 per cent and project delivery
acceleration of 50 per cent in
the next six years, BIM will
have a key role to play.
Technology, such
as BIM 360 field, is
crucial to futureproofing
the NHS’
built environment.
BIM is well known
for its ability to
create fly-through
models, which can
play an important
role in stakeholder
engagement ahead of
a project delivery date.
However, it’s most crucial
attribute is its ability to create a datarich
model of an estate, which can be accessed and
edited remotely in real time.
The creation of a central point of information for
all data relating to a healthcare estate is invaluable.
From a construction perspective, it can greatly
increase the e iciency of the snagging process, with
details on the condition of a unit recorded in real
time. From a FM perspective, it means that manual
records can be replaced with a single authoritative
point of information that is continually updated.
The ability to access such a resource allows estates
teams to make more informed decisions about
refurbishment and renovation work beyond the
initial construction phase. It also allows these
teams to analyse data to better understand the
maintenance costs across an estate, and e ectively
identify where e iciencies can be realised.
For existing healthcare assets where a digital
model does not already exist, laser scanning
technology – sometimes referred to as scan-to-BIM
– can be used to create one. Again, this process can
deliver vast e iciencies, with spatial data collected
on healthcare assets in a matter of hours rather
than days or even weeks. It can also be used to
understand the spatial dimensions of areas that
would otherwise be di icult to measure, such as li
sha s. In cases such as this, the use of laser scanning
can also deliver considerable health and safety
benefits.
SMART BUILDINGS
Ensuring the consistent digitisation of healthcare
estates is even more crucial as we move into the era
of smart buildings, where everything from lighting,
heating and security, to cleaning and catering is
integrated across a single network. Features such as
temperature and lighting that adjust intelligently to
individual preferences will become the norm. These
advancements will shape the future of the NHS
and provide an improved experience for sta and
patients. They will also benefit estate and facilities
management teams, who will be able to access more
meaningful information on their healthcare estate
than ever before.
Equally, the speed of technological advances
in areas such as robotics, machine learning and
automation means buildings designed with anything
up to a 60-year lifespan must be future-proofed. This
means they need to be flexible and easily adapted to
accommodate the future requirements of clinicians,
other sta and patients. For buildings that need to be
updated to adapt to these technological advances,
the ability to plan expansion or renovation work with
the aid of BIM data will be crucial to minimise project
risk and maximise e iciency.
A FUTURE-PROOF NHS
Delivering a future-proof NHS is crucial if we are to
meet the requirements of an ageing population and
continue to deliver world class healthcare. In relation
to the built environment, this means collecting data
on healthcare estates through BIM, so that informed
decisions can be made. It also means healthcare
estate planning needs to take into consideration the
disruptive technologies that will shape healthcare
provision in the next 50 to 60 years.
As NHS trusts move towards an integrated model
of primary healthcare provision, renovation and
refurbishment work will have a crucial role to
play. Here, the importance of BIM should not be
underestimated. Its use is essential to providing a
firm foundation on which the future of healthcare
can be built.
futurecreate
data-
Delivering a future
proof NHS is crucial if we
are to meet the requirements
of an ageing population and
continue to deliver world
class healthcare.”
ADVICE & OPINION