Repurposing existing neighbourhood health estate
When you’re planning to improve health outcomes in your community through neighbourhood health centres, it’s essential to look first at what estate you already have – rather than going straight to new build, you should consider vacant or underused properties that align with your clinical and infrastructure plans.
Understanding your estate
Intelligent strategic estates planning means you use what you already have better – more efficiently, more effectively and more suited to your local needs.
We’ve worked with several communities around the country to improve utilisation, flexibility and integration in existing health centres, rather than simply increasing floorspace.
Increasing clinical space
Recent projects in LIFT health centres in Hull and Nottingham saw us convert underutilised non-clinical space into flexible clinical rooms, providing extra capacity for a GP practice who were seeing increased demand, and providing space that can be used for peripatetic clinical staff such as physiotherapists or vaccination sessions.
Integrating services
We’ve also overseen the adaptation of space to further integrate wider health services. At Balderton Primary Care Centre in Newark, we repurposed underused areas of the facility to create a new hub for child and adolescent mental health services. This brings together mental health professionals from across the region, enhancing collaboration and ensuring young people can attend specialist clinics for conditions such as eating disorders in their own communities, rather than in hospitals, reducing the pressure on acute facilities.
Intelligent estates planning
Instead of being traditional GP silos, our repurposed neighbourhood health centres should support community activity, social connection and integrated operating models, reducing barriers to access for
diverse communities.
"The co-location of services into a Neighbourhood Health Centre will be transformative for people who have faced systematic challenges around the coordination of their care."
A successful neighbourhood health centre
Find out why The Reginald Centre in Leeds is leading the way in integrated neighbourhood health.
