PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
The digital transformation agenda has ballooned over the last few years and is set to become a major element of working practices across the board. It’s a huge agenda that cannot be ignored, and one in which the NHS is struggling to keep up with even the most basic elements of digitisation
Anisha Mayor
the importance of the question set acting as: n an early warning mechanism for any operational compliance issues and support to answer the NISTA Expiry Health Checks.
n guardrails for day-to-day management of contract and awareness to deliver the best possible healthcare facility beyond the concession period.
n support to the ongoing lifecycle, contract management and base data for the NISTA asset condition playbook.
It is hoped that we can learn from the experiences of these PFIs as the prospect of son-of-PFI is being discussed as a means of funding future projects and filling the hole in NHS capital availability. For further information and a demo of the PFI question set, please contact Nigel Lea at Citation:
nigellea@citation.co.uk. Aside from handback – which always seems so far off, until it isn’t – ensuring that private capital is visibly fairer to both parties than in the past is crucial.
Going digital The digital transformation agenda has ballooned over the last few years and is set to become a major element of working practices across the board. It’s a huge agenda that cannot be ignored, and one in which the NHS is struggling to keep up with even the most basic elements of digitisation. SEMAP has a specialist working group tackling the impact and future of digital systems. It aims to develop and expand the knowledge and application of data and digital tools in health estates management, and educate the sector on the benefits of digital based management decision making. This work is about changing the mindsets of ‘off the shelf digital tools’, and to bring about a recognition of how digitisation can facilitate delivery of the functions that we all need to deliver, and how to begin this critical journey. We recognise that the capabilities and starting points
vary monumentally between organisations. Our intended outputs include a guidance document on the development of digitisation and development of a best practice toolkit that will initiate and accelerate the digital transformation journey of client organisations.
Joined up working A new capital project lands on your desk. In all probability, the project will have one or more of the following characteristics: n An unrealistically short timetable. n A less than expected budget with no workings out explaining how it was calculated.
n No comprehensive brief. There is a large piece of work which SEMAP has in its sights – but is a way off yet – to work with colleagues in
the service who generate these kinds of problems, and to explore a more joined up way of working. So, SEMAP is currently progressing several strands on the capital projects front.
Healthcare planning For pretty much every capital scheme, you will need a Healthcare Planner – and fast. Resist the temptation to start designing stuff, particularly in a 3D model as everyone will think ‘job done’. Find out who the key stakeholders are and get them
together as soon as possible with a Healthcare Planner who will interrogate the assumptions, and dig into the service need and clinical model. What comes out the other end of this process could be radically different from where you started. SEMAP has recognised that healthcare planners come in all shapes and sizes, and there is no recognised qualification or registration system. In response, we have developed a course in healthcare planning with 10 comprehensive modules. We are currently seeking recognised accreditation for these modules. We are also in the process of finishing a guidance document that covers the complexities and scope of healthcare planning all in one all-inclusive document – another first in this critical area. We have high hopes to run a short course called an
‘introduction to healthcare planning’ later this year. This will cover the rudiments of healthcare planning in an accessible way, and will serve anyone involved in capital healthcare estates development, as well as budding healthcare planners keen to gain a full understanding of the breadth, depth and importance of the role.
Capital planning – process and pitfalls SEMAP Estates Capital Development Group has identified a variety of ‘wicked problems’ – handling the public estates’ maintenance backlog, Net Zero, distributional issues, supporting service productivity, system not just facility orientation (after the change in status of ICSs), and widening the perspective of what counts as benefits for a new capital project. You’ll be familiar with all these; they may be wicked but they’re not a counsel of despair, each can be addressed. Unsurprisingly, as capital projects are funded by the public purse via central funding – adjudicated by the Treasury and DHSC – there are a range of rules and guidelines to be followed. Treasury has ‘books’ of various hues for various purposes, but the Green Book on capital appraisal is the most relevant here. Government has indicated it is open to shifting the interpretation of what have hitherto seemed like rigid rules. SEMAP plans to contribute to the rethink.
See SEMAP at Healthcare Estates, details on the next page.
Anisha Mayor is the UK head of Healthcare at WSP, and has over 20 years’ experience within government healthcare infrastructure investment. She recently served as Redevelopment Project director for the New Hospital Programme, leading St Mary’s Hospital’s redevelopment for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. She is a Fellow of IHEEM, part of SEMAP, chairs the New London Architecture Healthcare Expert Panel, and launched the Next Gen Healthcare Networking Forum.
Paul Mercer
Paul is an architect, a former NHS Estates director, and former chair of SEMAP. His experience, gained over almost 50 years in practice, in both public and private sectors, distils to a belief in careful, respectful community decision making. Paul was co-chair of the Home Office Design Review Panel, and carried out research with others into the design quality of dozens of primary care facilities. In a former role, he led multi- disciplinary project teams for numerous NHS and police proposals.
October 2025 Health Estate Journal 39
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