EBME Leadership
Clinical engineers: gatekeepers of the NHP?
Equipping the New Hospital Programme (NHP) will demand influential leadership from the clinical engineering sector. The EBME Leaders Network recently gathered to discuss how we can bridge the gap between ‘Hospital 2.0’ and ‘the Intelligent Hospital of the Future’. They identified the challenges ahead and pitfalls to avoid.
The EBME Expo Leaders Forum, recently held in London, brought together a high-level assembly of healthcare technology experts to discuss the future of Healthcare Technology Management (HTM). High on the agenda included: the challenges of equipping new hospitals; the vital role of clinical engineers in supporting the New Hospital Programme (NHP); implementation and futureproofing of healthcare technology; and preventing “obsolescence on arrival.” Chaired by Professor John Sandham, the meeting identified a critical ‘digital void’ between Information & Communication Technology (ICT) and EBME/Clinical Engineering. The panel of experts warned that this gap risks hindering the effective implementation of the “Hospital 2.0” programme, which aims to modernise NHS infrastructure through standardising equipment, hospital design, and digitally enabled care environments. The forum called for a holistic model for HTM, emphasising the need to break down silos between clinical engineering, IT, procurement, and clinical departments to successfully manage the convergence of technologies. Key themes included:
l The risk of technology obsolescence during long hospital construction cycles.
l The growing complexity of medical device connectivity and data integration.
l The expanding role of clinical engineering in governance, training, and patient safety.
Professor John Sandham was joined
The EBME Expo Leaders Forum, chaired by Prof. Sandham (top left), discussed the future of Healthcare Technology Management.
l The need to strengthen the profession’s influence within national healthcare planning.
The equipping challenge Opening the forum, Professor John Sandham set the scene: “The government is looking to spend £46 billion pounds over the next four years, of which approximately £9.5 billion will be spent on technology. The organisation tasked with managing this budget has acknowledged that spending this budget within the government’s timescale will be an ambitious undertaking.”
by Caroline Finlay, COO at MTS Health, and Equipment Advisor to the NHP. She tackled the topic of equipment replacement planning, within the context of the NHP, the procurement challenges, and potential risks that must be mitigated. “The challenge isn’t just buying equipment. With construction timelines spanning 5–10 years, equipment selected at the business-case stage risks being outdated at hospital opening,” Caroline Finlay commented. “There is huge investment which will be under the spotlight – certainly for the Trusts that have schemes that are approved under the programme. What equipment do they have currently? What will they need to transfer?” she continued.
Clinical engineering departments will need to
have a key role in this undertaking, she asserted, adding that accurate data on existing assets will be crucial.
“In the past, with new capital projects, hospitals would sweat everything, until it was ready to fall over, because they knew they were getting a new hospital and everything in it would be new,” she continued. She pointed out that the approach with this latest wave of investment will be very different. There is a lot of guidance coming out of the NHP, she explained. “Clinical engineering has finally secured a space at the planning table to help establish
A panel of experts tackled the challenges facing clinical engineers, as the NHS rolls out the New Hospital Programme. 44
www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I May 2026
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