Supporting estate baselining for NHS trusts in Liverpool
DATE: 2025 | LOCATION: NORTH WEST | PROJECT AREA: STRATEGIC ESTATES ADVISORY | PROJECT STATUS: COMPLETED
As the University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHLG) and the Liverpool Adult Acute and Specialist Providers (LAASP) Partnership began working more closely together, they needed a deeper understanding of their collective estate. With multiple organisations and services operating across a complex portfolio, the Trusts required a unified and consistent picture of their estate to inform future collaboration and decision‑making.
Sewell Advisory was commissioned to undertake detailed baselining and benchmarking work, supporting the Group and Partnership as they strengthened their joint approach to estate planning, service delivery and long‑term strategy.
The challenge
The Trusts’ estates consisted of numerous buildings, services and operational approaches, but there was no single, consistent view of the condition, utilisation, cost or risk associated with their assets.
Key challenges included:
- Understanding the full condition, cost and utilisation of the estate
- Identifying duplications in service delivery
- Pinpointing opportunities for improved patient pathways
- Establishing a shared evidence base across multiple organisations
- Gaining visibility of where the Group and Partnership were already performing strongly and where there was scope to improve
To move forward together, the Trusts needed a robust and reliable platform of estate information to guide future decision‑making.
The Solution
Sewell Advisory delivered a comprehensive baselining and benchmarking exercise that brought together estate and service data from across all participating organisations. This included:
- Creating, for the first time, a single, consistent understanding of the Trusts’ estates, condition, costs, utilisation and risks
- Using our geospatial mapping tool to visually show where services were delivered and how estate assets were distributed
- Identifying duplication of services, opportunities for co‑location, and areas where smarter use of space could improve efficiency
- Benchmarking the Trusts against peer organisations, highlighting both strengths and opportunities for improvement
By combining estate and service information in one place, Sewell Advisory enabled the Trusts to clearly set out how their estate was being used and where changes could maximise impact.
The result
The analysis and recommendations have begun to influence future estate and service planning across UHLG and the LAASP Partnership.
The work has:
- Highlighted opportunities for strategic consolidation
- Supported improved investment prioritisation, shifting focus from reactive to proactive planning
- Helped accelerate progress towards net zero
- Strengthened collaboration and consistency across all participating Trusts
By providing a structured, thoughtful and evidence‑based foundation, the baselining and benchmarking exercise has positioned the Trusts to deliver more efficient, sustainable and patient‑centred healthcare. The strong analytical platform established by Sewell Advisory will continue to guide long‑term planning and support shared ambitions across the Liverpool system.
"Sewell Advisory's detailed work gave us, for the first time, a single, consistent understanding of our estate; its condition, costs, utilisation and risks across our portfolio. By combining estate and service data, Sewell Advisory helped us to clearly set out where opportunities lay for improved patient pathways and smarter use of space. Their use of geospatial mapping and peer benchmarking gave us insight not only into our current position but also where we could improve and where we are already performing strongly. The analysis and recommendations have already begun to guide our future decision‑making, helping us identify opportunities for strategic consolidation, improved investment prioritisation and progress towards net zero."
Improving diagnostic capability
Want to know more about our work supporting NHS leaders to set a direction for their estates?
See our case study on how we developed an infrastructure strategy for NHS Greater Manchester.
