Flexibility and the Future of Healthcare Facilities

Monday, March 22, 2021

It’s easy to view healthcare as a huge entity, particularly when public health services are run by a body that spends over £140bn a year. But beneath the big numbers, there is a more intricate picture of healthcare services and facilities that are driven by local needs and solutions.

Planning for future healthcare needs takes place in an increasingly dynamic environment. One driven by evolving demographics, emerging health risks, and advances in treatments and medical science. All of this is overlaid on a patchwork of communities with their own characteristics and needs. Building the right healthcare infrastructure calls, above all, for flexibility.

Building Opportunities

The facilities we create today, and the way we create them, must open opportunities to be more responsive to changing needs and new challenges. To make this possible we have to move away from outdated thinking about how and what we build.

New construction methods offer far greater freedom to architects and designers to imagine ambitious buildings, shaped by users’ needs, without compromising on performance. Modern methods and materials also bring cost and timing certainty along with greater sustainability.

Creating Options Through Innovation

Modern methods can be deployed in sites that are hard to access or in live environments where risks and disruption have to be minimised. Looking to the future, new construction techniques also make it possible to design interior spaces that are easy to adapt in line with changing needs.

Ultimately, this all builds greater resilience into the healthcare system by putting the right facilities in the right places, whether that’s NHS hospitals, primary care, community healthcare or private operators.

Osborne has a track record of finding innovative solutions to help relieve pressure on healthcare by increasing capacity throughout the system. From main hospital sites to community infrastructure to the private sector, Osborne has the capabilities to design, develop and deliver high quality healthcare facilities at pace and at scale.