NHS property programme creates demand for planning expertise

A new strategy for the management of primary care properties has created a need for planning expertise in one of the UK’s largest property companies.

NHS Property Services was established in April 2013 to take over the management of almost three million square metres of primary care estate from the abolished primary care trusts and strategic health authorities.

As well as maintaining existing facilities for patient care, the Department of Health-owned company is investing in modernisation of the estate, while also selling or converting plots deemed surplus by the NHS, largely for housing supply.

As part of the programme, it is now recruiting for area-focused strategic estates planners to help influence development plan policies and advise NHS commissioners on the property aspects of service provision.

NHS Property Services’ head of planning and development, Andrew Strange, said: “The need for us to influence and take account of planning policies is vital to help us make the best use of our diverse estate and to help commissioners plan the primary care estate of the future.”

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(Pic: Clitheroe Community Hospital, a recent new development by NHS Property Services)