CONSTRUCTION
Social value is often underestimated in its power to influence long- term health outcomes. Yet it can be one of the most powerful tools the construction sector has to address the root causes of illness.
New high-tech clinical facilities at Luton Dunstable Hospital.
Digital estates as prevention engines during use Digital systems from sensors to data platforms are now essential to creating environments that actively prevent harm and, crucially, support staff wellbeing; the value is not in the technology itself, but in how it reduces stress, friction, and unnecessary workload so staff can focus on care.
Digital twins exemplify this approach by providing a real-time view of the estate, allowing teams to predict failures and optimise performance. In an A&E setting, for example, a digital twin can combine data on occupancy, temperature, and movement to identify environmental factors that may increase agitation, enabling adjustments before tensions escalate and helping protect staff from avoidable conflict. This represents preventive design for psychological
safety, reducing the environmental triggers that make healthcare settings harder to work in. Alongside digital twins, day-to-day digital systems – such as automated water safety management, location tracking tools, and digital wayfinding – support calmer, more efficient, and safer environments. At a time when ill health is pushing record numbers of people out of the workforce, these systems play a vital role in helping staff stay well, avoid burnout, and continue doing the jobs they love. And as digital twins evolve, they could also help track broader wellbeing patterns across buildings or services, opening new possibilities for prevention in the future.
Matt Griffiths
Matt is health sector director at Kier, responsible for setting the strategic direction of the company’s healthcare portfolio. Building on Kier’s long heritage in the sector, he helps shape the next generation of NHS facilities, with a focus on collaboration, compliance, added value, and outcomes that genuinely improve patient and staff experiences.
Bold leadership and capital project reform To make prevention the key principle of healthcare construction, we need leadership willing to shift the narrative from ‘buildings as assets’ to ‘buildings as health interventions’. This is the time to ask bold questions. What if we treated buildings as health interventions? Why do we not design every project around SDOH principles? Achieving this vision requires:
n Procurement frameworks that reward achieving measurable long-term health outcomes rather than short term interventions.
n Alliancing models that align contractors, designers, clinicians, and communities to push together around shared preventive goals, not siloed pockets of excellence.
n Investment in digital capability, to support safer, more adaptive buildings that allow the workforce to not just get by, but to flourish.
46 Health Estate Journal June 2026
n A cultural and contractual shift towards measuring success years into a building’s life, not just at handover.
n Commissioning teams embedding prevention requirements in briefs from the earliest concept stage.
n Estates leaders demanding outdoor spaces, digital infrastructure, and co-located community services as core requirements, not optional extras.
This is not about spending more. It is about spending differently – on elements that compound in value over decades.
If we build with prevention at the centre, the benefits
extend far beyond healthcare: n Populations stay healthier and remain economically active for longer, reducing welfare pressures and strengthening national productivity.
n Communities rely less on acute NHS services and more on local preventive assets, shifting activity from hospital to community settings.
n NHS staff experience less stress and deliver better care in environments that support their wellbeing, helping improve retention, and patient experience.
n Estates run more efficiently and sustainably, boosting productivity and supporting progress toward Net Zero.
Construction, in partnership with the NHS, holds one of the most powerful levers for shaping the long-term health of the nation. Not through clinical activity, but through the environments, opportunities and connections created around every project.
Leaving a legacy The purpose of healthcare construction is evolving. The question is no longer simply what are we building, but what are we building for? If prevention is central to improving the UK’s health and
prosperity, our estates must reflect that – encouraging movement, integrating nature, co-locating preventive services, strengthening community connection, supporting staff wellbeing, and using digital systems intelligently. Buildings shape health every day, not only at the point of care, and capital projects offer a powerful opportunity to influence those outcomes at scale. This cannot remain aspiration. Prevention must be embedded in delivery – through social value, design choices, and digital integration. If every project took this approach, the collective impact on population health, communities, and productivity would be profound. This is the legacy now required, and one the construction sector is uniquely placed to deliver.
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