INTERVIEW


about 35.2%, meaning just over a third of the time the space is actively being used. Often, people perceive that space is fully utilised, but in reality, it is sitting empty. By providing this information, we can open up opportunities to reduce costs, create value, and right-size the estate. This is just one example of how proptech can have a significant impact. I think this kind of work will have huge benefits across the NHS, beyond what we are doing internally within NHS Property Services. Innovation and proptech allow us to explore smarter buildings and smarter use of space, and that is an area we continue to focus on.


“One of the main reasons we are doing this is to help deliver a more optimised estate,” says Chris.


A wider question around the 10 Year Health Plan and the drive towards digitisation, how do you see digital tools like NHS Open Space fitting into that? I see Open Space as a fantastic opportunity to help to help enable the 10 year health plan. It directly supports all three shifts in the plan. It enables


Chris King


Before joining NHS Property Services, Chris King built a career at Knight Frank and CBRE, advising on capital markets, investment, development, and asset management across London’s most dynamic markets. Drawing on this commercial expertise, he has led the creation and delivery of innovative estate solutions within the NHS, with a focus on digital transformation, space optimisation, and improving patient experience. Today, Chris is


recognised as a thought leader in PropTech, real estate and healthcare, driving forward new ways of working within the NHS estate – blending technology and commercial insight with public sector purpose to ensure space is better understood, better managed, and better utilised.


hospital to community by allowing services to deliver care in community settings without needing permanent space. It supports analogue to digital through sensors, dashboards and digital booking. It also supports prevention, because we actively encourage charities to use the space. Last year alone, we provided 220,000 hours of space to charities, which directly supports that prevention agenda.


Open Space was recently given a Highly Commended Award at the Property Week Awards? It was really fantastic to see. It’s amazing that the platform is receiving recognition not only within the healthcare sector, but also within the wider property industry. That is a huge validation of the work we have done. With regards to other technologies or digital solutions,


I think there is a huge amount of potential for the NHS to benefit from innovation. Proptech has been around for a while, and there are many systems and solutions available that could help improve estate management and service delivery across the NHS. For Open Space in particular, one of our key focuses is how we can continue to innovate, especially around encouraging collaboration within the system and enabling decision-making at a system level. By “system level,” I mean not just bringing NHS Property


Services and Community Health Partnerships together, but also involving Integrated Care Boards, NHS Trusts, and other stakeholders within an ICB region. The idea is to move away from managing the estate as separate pockets owned by different estate leaders or landlords and instead to bring all of it together. One of the projects we are currently working on with


South East London Integrated Care Board and Community Health Partnerships is combining utilisation data into a single dashboard. This dashboard overlays property and utilisation data, allowing us to see trends across all estate types – NHS Property Services properties, Community Health Partnerships properties, and local Trust properties – in one place. To give an example, within our own estate, we have deployed around 4,900 sensor units through Open Space. Our average utilisation rate currently sits at


50 Health Estate Journal February 2026


With sustainability and Net Zero such a priority, do you see platforms like NHS Open Space helping reduce the carbon footprint of the NHS estate? Yes, absolutely. One of the key areas we are exploring is how we can use smart technology to make buildings more efficient and, in doing so, support the NHS in achieving Net Zero targets. NHS Property Services has a Green Plan, and we want to reach Net Zero by 2040. To achieve that, we need to look at how to make our buildings more efficient. There are already trials in place using technology to manage building systems more effectively. For example, we are using smart sensors and building management systems to optimise heating, lighting, and even water testing. By overlaying occupancy data with building usage, we can identify areas where energy can be reduced. For instance, if a part of a hospital is known to be unoccupied at certain times, heating can be reduced or turned off, which can lead to significant energy savings. Platforms like Open Space give us the data and tools to make those decisions more accurately, and I think this is a clear way in which proptech can support the NHS’s Net Zero ambitions.


It’s great to hear someone be so positive about how technology can help the NHS achieve future sustainability goals. What’s your vision for how the NHS estate could feel different for patients and staff because of better space management? For me, space management is an enabler of wider change, particularly in line with the 10 Year health Plan and the move towards neighbourhood health centres. My vision is for the NHS estate to be right-sized, leaner, more efficient, and truly fit for purpose. That means creating spaces that are well utilised, enabling services to be delivered more effectively, and ultimately improving patient experience. The ultimate goal is to show how the estate is being used, so that the wider NHS can understand usage patterns and make strategic decisions. NHS Property Services can then help right-size the estate to ensure services are delivered in the most efficient way possible. Open Space contributes to this by making space flexible, so that more services can operate within it. For me, this is about creating tangible benefits for patients: better access to services, a more comfortable environment for staff, and a smarter, more efficient estate overall. This vision drives why I do this work – to ensure the estate actively supports the delivery of care.


What’s next for Open Space and NHS Property Services? We now have a product that has been stress-tested and proven to work. CHP is our first major adopter, and the next step is to make sure the wider system knows it is here and can start using it. We built Open Space because we believe it can genuinely help the NHS, and now we want people to come and benefit from it.


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