Some of the biggest names in the healthcare construction sector have been included in a new procurement framework which will speed up delivery of new hospital developments across the UK.

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) recently unveiled the third generation of its Construction Consultancy framework agreement – Healthcare Planning, Construction Consultancy and Ancillary Services (HPCCAS) – with an offering that can speed up hospital builds.  

The new agreement offers the NHS and other public sector organisations a compliant and cost-effective route for procuring construction-related services including architecture, civil, and structural engineering and surveying, among others.

And it will help the NHS to bring its estate up to standard and address the ever-growing backlog maintenance challenge.

The scale of the problem

The NHS in England has 1,500 hospitals and some buildings pre-date its creation 75 years ago.

And, without regular renovation the care, safety, and wellbeing of patients, hospital staff, and the public can be compromised.

Figures from NHS Digital put the cost to eradicate the backlog of repairs and maintenance of the hospital estate at £10.2billion, more than double that of £4.7billion in 2011/12. 

To achieve the level of investment and regeneration required across the NHS and public sector, customers need a compliant, secure, and trusted route that helps them navigate construction consultancy services through to procurement

In response, the Government’s New Hospital Programme has committed to building 40 new hospitals by the end of the decade, backed by over £20billion of investment in hospital infrastructure.

And, at the centre of the programme, is the ‘hospital 2.0’ concept, a vision for how hospital schemes can be delivered with greater efficiency and at reduced cost. 

Energy-efficient buildings

NHS trusts will work with a central programme team, as well as local and regional stakeholders, to design and deliver green, energy-efficient buildings through to hospitals using state-of-the-art technology to improve the health of the local population. 

And the scale of the New Hospital Programme calls upon the skills of companies of all sizes, across a broad range of sectors. 

NHS SBS’s HPCCAS framework agreement offers a UK-wide, comprehensive, convenient, and compliant route to find and purchase services from 179 carefully-vetted suppliers operating in the construction space, quickly and efficiently. 

The agreement is free to use and comprises 11 distinct service types (Lots) including architectural services, civil and structural engineering, building surveyors, principal designer services, and multi-disciplinary services.

Nothing can be achieved in isolation, and key to our continued success on this framework will be to engage and work with a full range of partners throughout the supply chain

Melissa King, NHS SBS senior category manager for construction and infrastructure, said: “To achieve the level of investment and regeneration required across the NHS and public sector, customers need a compliant, secure, and trusted route that helps them navigate construction consultancy services through to procurement.

“To cater for regionalised procurement, 78% of the suppliers appointed are small to medium-sized enterprises, sitting alongside larger multi-disciplinary (tier 1) suppliers.”

Making savings

She added: “Previous iterations of the framework agreement have achieved 10%-15% savings and, with £1.6billion expected spend via across it over the next four years, the HPCCAS framework agreement has the potential to achieve public sector savings of up £240m.”

Among the companies approved for the framework is Pick Everard.

Commenting on its inclusion across 10 of the 11 lots, Alex Hamilton-Jordan, associate director, said: “This agreement provides an efficient route to market to procure our services, and offers flexibility for organisations to adapt to meet their requirements.   

Previous iterations of the framework agreement have achieved 10%-15% savings and, with £1.6billion expected spend via across it over the next four years, the HPCCAS framework agreement has the potential to achieve public sector savings of up £240m

“Collaboratively, we aim to deliver better, together.

“Nothing can be achieved in isolation, and key to our continued success on this framework will be to engage and work with a full range of partners throughout the supply chain, including local SMEs that can offer valued, local insight.   

“We are excited and open to the opportunities this will bring to appoint our professional services, engaging public bodies through the framework agreement.”

Architectural firms, HKS and Medical Architecture, have also secured a place on the new framework under three of the 11 lots.

HKS’s regional practice director of health, Jane Ho, said: “Our team is dedicated to designing environments that enhance the wellbeing of patients, healthcare professionals, and communities at large.

Value for money

“This partnership with NHS Shared Business Services further strengthens our resolve to create exceptional healthcare spaces that promote healing and innovation that can be realistically delivered

within the programme and financial challenges of today.”

Ruairi Reeves, director at Medical Architecture, added: “We are very happy to have been appointed to the new NHS SBS framework agreement.

“This means that we can offer clients our full range of services through the framework, tailored to their individual needs.

“Having completed a diverse range of projects through earlier iterations of this framework, we have found it is particularly useful for NHS trusts to be able to quickly and directly call off our professional services, knowing they will receive a high-quality service that provides pre-tested value for money.”

A healing environment

And commenting on its inclusion on the framework Paul Hutt, director and healthcare lead at Glancy Nicholls, said: “Having built up such an impressive portfolio of high-quality, patient-focused healthcare designs, we’re thrilled to be awarded a place on the framework agreement.

“We firmly believe that well-designed healthcare facilities promote a healing environment that enhances the wellbeing and comfort of patients, their families, and healthcare workers alike.

“We are passionate about making positive change through the built environment and the physical impact architecture can have on people’s health, so we hope to be able to apply these principles to even-more-forward-thinking projects that benefit our vital health service.”