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INSTITUTE NEWS
Making NHS estate data work harder
If readiness and outcomes formed the ‘why’ of digital transformation, the session from Steven Boyd MBE, director of Longstone Consulting, focused squarely on the ‘how’. Steven examined why estates teams often feel overwhelmed by data yet supported by surprisingly little useful information.
He described a landscape characterised by multiple overlapping standards, disconnected systems, and inconsistent terminology. The problem, he argued, is not a lack of guidance or data, but a lack of alignment and structure. “We do not have a data shortage,” Steven observed. “We have a structure and alignment problem.”
Through the work of the Aligned Data Standards Alliance, Steven outlined progress towards establishing a common language and shared data structures, underpinned by a ‘data spine’ linking assets, locations, and attributes throughout the asset lifecycle.
For the NHS, this approach has significant implications. Structured, interoperable data enables reliable safety reporting, credible condition and backlog assessments, improved sustainability measurement, and more effective handover from capital projects into operations, all while reducing manual reporting burden. Steven also highlighted how this work aligns with national policy drivers, including Building Safety Act requirements and emerging refresh of the NHS Estatecode, which is due to be released later this year, positioning standards not as compliance overheads but as enablers of better decision- making.
Patient experience begins with the built environment The afternoon sessions placed patient experience at the centre of the estates discussion. Chris Needham, Schneider healthcare lead for UK and Ireland, Luke Clarehugh, Schneider project delivery expert and Lisa Yates, digital lead for the National Rehabilitation Centre at Nottingham University Hospital, delivered a presentation examining how the smart built environment directly influences patient dignity, autonomy, and clinical effectiveness. Using the National
Rehabilitation Centre as a case study, they demonstrated the potential of how smart room technologies, including patient- controlled lighting, blinds, and ventilation, can significantly improve experience while simultaneously reducing avoidable demand on nursing teams. “Giving patients greater control over their own environment reduces pressure on staff and allows clinicians to focus on care and rehabilitation,” Lisa explained. The example also illustrated how intelligent estates design can align with wider NHS objectives, including operational efficiency and the delivery of Net Zero carbon standards. Smart technologies were presented as integral components of care environments rather than optional extras. The session reinforced a
key theme of the day: the built environment is not a passive backdrop to healthcare delivery, but an active enabler of outcomes.
EFM Collaboration Hubs: a new operating model for estates
The conference concluded with a forward-looking presentation
from James Chadwick, speaking as associate estates and facilities director at the New Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn along with his colleague Toni Platts, associate clinical and operations director also from the New Queen Elizabeth Hospital, introducing the concept of Estates and Facilities Management Collaboration Hubs, also referred to as Flight Decks via the National Hospital Programme. The session began with an honest assessment of the pressures currently facing estates teams: growing maintenance backlogs, fragmented systems, workforce challenges and increasing regulatory demands, all driving reactive operating models. James described the Collaboration Hub as a single operational nerve centre, bringing together hard facilities management, soft services, logistics, security, and digitalised operations to provide visibility, coordination and organisational grip. “This is not about command and control,” James emphasised. “It is about creating the conditions for proactive, data-driven operations.” Toni brought a clinical perspective, underlining that estates performance is directly linked to patient flow, safety, and staff workload. Environmental readiness, maintenance, cleaning, logistics, and asset availability all affect clinical risk at the bedside. “If the environment and logistics fail, the risk transfers to clinical teams,” Toni noted. “That is why estates and facilities performance matters so profoundly.”
By integrating realtime data, predictive maintenance, and structured escalation pathways, the Collaboration Hub model aims
May 2026 Health Estate Journal 13
to reduce failure demand, release time to care and improve hospital resilience.
From conversation to delivery As the conference closed, IHEEM CEO Pete Sellars summarised the unmistakeable message: innovation in healthcare estates is no longer theoretical. With clearer standards, maturing digital platforms, and emerging operating models, the challenge now lies in implementation rather than aspiration.
For the IHEEM East Midlands Branch, the event reinforced the evolving role of estates and facilities leaders, not simply as custodians of infrastructure, but as strategic enablers of patient safety, experience, and system performance. The Uttoxeter conference demonstrated that when data, technology, and people are aligned with purpose, estates, and facilities services can help lead the NHS from reactive response to proactive, intelligent care environments. Pete finished off the day by stating that, next year, the East Midland Branch are looking to return with a larger event with a broader theme, so watch this space for 2027.
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