ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Prototyping the future: Single bedroom design
As the New Hospital Programme develops its Hospital 2.0 (H2.0) design, one of the most significant innovations is the move to 100 per cent single bedrooms. To understand why this matters, and how the prototype bedroom is helping to solve problems before construction begins, HEJ spoke with Stuart Thatcher, Integration lead for Technical Services at the New Hospital Programme.
Right: The single bedroom prototype is thought to help prevent infection, improve patient care and be a cost effective solution for construction.
With over 25 years’ experience in construction design and delivery, both in the private sector and within the NHS, Stuart has been closely involved in shaping H2.0. Here, he explains how his background informs his role, why single bedrooms are at the heart of the new hospital model, and how building and testing a prototype is solving problems now rather than on live construction sites.
Stuart, can you start by telling us about your role in the New Hospital Programme? My current role is Integration Lead in Technical Services, and I’ve been involved in the programme for just over three years. I came in with a lot of design experience. My background is construction design delivery – I started out as an electrician, and I’ve been a Building Design manager for 25 years, mostly working in the construction sector.
During the pandemic I spent a year working for Guy’s
and St Thomas’ as their Capital Delivery director on the NHS side, which was a really good experience and a very focused piece of work. After that I went back to the construction sector and then joined the NHP in June 2022. Since then, I’ve been bringing my experience into the design process, going wherever the need was greatest. I’ve settled into this role as Integration Lead, which is great because I sit across many different directorates making sure we’re all coordinated.
What directorates do you spend most time coordinating? My greatest focus is between the clinical team – the
transformation team – and the delivery team. With design, we must take a lot of information and coordinate closely with the clinical experts, because we need to deliver what they know will be required to optimise treatment of patients. We also must make sure that it’s deliverable. The
delivery team are really focused on efficiency – using industrialisation construction. The government’s Construction Playbook set out how we need to build more efficiently, and we’ve taken those principles and turned them into a method of delivery that has created the H2.0 system.
Why single bedrooms matter
The New Hospital Programme’s team said its move to 100% single bedrooms using the H2.0 design offers a “smarter, more cost- effective way to build hospitals. Compared to hospitals with a mix of single and multi- bedrooms, this approach reduces building size, cuts capital and running costs, and improves patient care. Single rooms help lower infection rates, support faster recovery, and offer greater privacy and dignity for patients. “In the past, single rooms haven’t always been supported by the smart technology
54 Health Estate Journal October 2025
needed to help staff deliver safe, efficient care. H2.0 changes that – combining physical design with digital capability to create safer, more flexible environments for patients and staff alike. “H2.0 single bedrooms can be used for any patient, removing the need for separate areas and speeding up admissions and discharges. They help control infection, reduce backlogs, and increase operational flexibility. Overall, this approach delivers long-term savings and better care. This is the future of patient care.”
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