Healthcare consultancy, Essentia Trading, has won a place on a national framework, making it easier for NHS trusts and other public-sector bodies to procure expert advice on property and estates strategy.
The Framework for the Provision of Property and Estates Consultancy Services was set up to help enable NHS organisations deliver the recommendations of the independent review by Sir Robert Naylor on NHS property and estates.
It is being run by NHS Commercial Solutions and lasts for four years, with an estimated value of £100m.
The Naylor review asserted that without investment into the NHS estate, the Government’s Five Year Forward View could not be delivered and the NHS estate would remain unfit for purpose and continue to deteriorate.
It called for the NHS to develop robust capital plans that align with clinical strategies, maximise value for money, and address backlog maintenance, backed by government capital.
The review also identified that £2billion could be realised from selling off surplus land within NHS estates to help fund 26,000 homes.
Essentia has won places on Lot 1 (Land and Property Appraisals (Six Facet Surveys1) and Lot 2: General Property and Estates Consultancy) of the framework.
Stephen Edgar, director of property at Essentia, said: “The NHS estate is large and of varying quality.
“It comprises over 1,200 sites, 6,500 hectares of land and buildings, with a gross internal area of 26 million square metres.
“Forty-three per cent of the estate is over 30 years old and while some buildings have been upgraded, much of the NHS is operating in inadequate facilities.
“There is a significant need to modernise the estate, as well as deal with backlog maintenance. And, in some cases, out-of-date or unfit buildings could be sold or used for other purposes such as housing.
“By enhancing property management, flexible use of space, and rationalisation of estate, we are assisting organisations in delivering savings and reinvesting disposal proceeds back into frontline services.
“Our extensive property expertise and knowledge helps our clients develop their estate strategy and business cases to enable service transformation.”
Essentia’s property and estates management clients include Royal Salford NHS Foundation Trust, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, The Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Barts Health NHS Trust and South London, and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.