ESTATE PROVISION
The author says that, ‘even before the pandemic, there was a growing recognition that buildings generally needed to be more flexible, as technological change far outpaces a typical development cycle’.
Barking Community Hospital for over 100 years, and during that time has seen various redevelopments and additions. This application is the latest addition to increase outpatient capacity. It will provide clinical spaces for the use of cardiology, respiratory, pathology, physiological measurement, MRI/CT control, and procedure rooms. Patient backlogs have been well documented recently, and it is felt that this new approach in healthcare design can go some way to addressing it. Outpatient facilities such as this offer a highly efficient throughput of patients without risk of disruption via unplanned cases, or a need to redesign existing facilities.
Integration in the community Another significant benefit of these facilities is their integration of healthcare within the community. During multiple COVID lockdowns, the unpredicted and urgent need for adaptation led to individuals uniting to form resilient communities. Compounded by the working from home revolution, the importance of local and ‘hyper- local’ communities was intensified, and the ‘15 minute neighbourhood’ – a concept which until recently had had little practical impact – was found to function naturally in towns and cities. The principles of this concept – neighbourliness, support for local businesses, and sustainable travel – have now become central to the masterplanning of large-scale new communities and the functioning of existing communities, and although the 15-minute neighbourhood and its association with low-traffic neighbourhoods have come into contention recently, the increased importance of community is clearly here to say. Research carried out by Place Alliance in 20207 considered 2,510 individual views of lockdown experiences, and confirmed that people’s sense of community had changed significantly. Specifically, ‘respondents reflected on a period in which people seemed friendlier… and in which they had more time for… family, exercise, the garden, neighbours, and the community’. Planning legislation responded quickly to the renewed appreciation of local community centres, while simultaneously addressing the ongoing ‘perfect storm’ that has battered the high street for many years. In 2020, amendments to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 allowed for greater change of use between use classes, creating the all- encompassing Class E. This allows for change of use
between a wide range of ‘commercial, business and services’ without the need for a full planning application. It covers shops, office buildings, research and development facilities, clinics, health centres, creches, day nurseries, day centres, gyms, and most indoor recreations. As a result, a soft play centre may now convert to a surgery, a retail unit facility to a research centre, or a day nursery to a dentist, under Permitted Development Rights. This change not only benefits local residents, but also
helps protect the future of our high streets and town centres. It has proven that the high street location of healthcare occupants (which are less dependent on economic cycles than shops, cafés, and other leisure services) is an important component in revitalising high streets at a time of economic uncertainty. As an example of this, Carter Jonas’ Leeds office recently used permitted development rights to position a breast screening service in Wakefield town centre, which was positively supported by Wakefield Council, and was well attended by the local community.
PropTech
A positive outcome of a crisis, be it a war or a pandemic, is invariably the expedited adoption of emerging technology. This is abundantly clear in the health sector
The COVID pandemic has unquestionably expedited change in healthcare: not solely in how healthcare settings respond to a pandemic, but how they respond to secondary change – to technology, lifestyle, and economic factors.
October 2024 Health Estate Journal 129
AdobeStock / boonchok
AdobeStock / xy
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