NHS Property Services’ latest annual report reveals that it delivered £45.9 m in cost efficiencies for the health service during 2022/23, a 4% increase on the previous year’s performance.
Published earlier in January, the report demonstrates that the business – which owns and manages around 10 per cent of the NHS estate – exceeded its initial financial target of £32.5 m by over £12 million, and has now delivered a cumulative total of over £295 m in savings to the NHS since 2017. It also increased its investment in the estate this year, with total capital investments of £150 m, compared with £135 m in 2022/23, delivering improvements to the NHS property portfolio for customers and patients, ‘ensuring that its buildings are consistently fit for purpose’. NHSPS says the figures reflect and include the continued successful disposal of surplus NHS Property Services Limited sites – which are those no longer required by the NHS to deliver commissioned or clinical services, generating £50 m of recycled capital investment in its portfolio.
Another significant achievement described was the publication of NHSPS’ first Climate- Related Financial Disclosure Report ahead of the Government’s 2024 deadline. It identifies key environmental risks that could impact the NHSPS portfolio, and outlines steps being taken to build resilience by integrating climate adaptation into its overall business strategy. The report also highlights how – since the launch of the NHSPS Green Plan in 2021/22 – the business has reduced its carbon footprint by 18%, avoiding significant energy price rises for its customers as a result.
The report also describes how NHSPS completed a further 94 ‘transformational’ new or improved building projects in the year covered as part of its Healthy Places programme, including the £11 million sustainable Devizes Health Centre in Wiltshire for Bath and Northeast Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICS (Integrated Care System), one of the first Net Zero buildings in NHS history. With new sites identified for next year, the programme will extend to over 500 national projects – either completed or in progress.
Martin Steele, NHSPS’s CEO (pictured), said: “As we mark NHSPS’s tenth year of operating, this year’s annual report outlines the significant progress we have made. It evidences how we are realising our ambition to be the estate delivery partner of choice for ICBs (integrated care boards) nationwide, helping our NHS partners develop and deliver their estate strategies, and supporting them with the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 recovery and the NHS Long Term Plan transformation.