Healthcare issues facing governments across the world are well documented. With life expectancy projections increasing and populations better informed about their health and the treatments available to them, the provision of healthcare is coming under close scrutiny on a global scale.
At the same time, advances in medical and communications technologies mean that today’s healthcare models and delivery facilities are becoming increasingly obsolete. Governments have to balance long-term efficiency gains against shorter-term budgetary constraints.
And in the UK, the situation is no different. The coalition government’s White Paper, Liberating the NHS, which was proposed last year as the flagship of the Big Society, presents NHS Trusts with the challenge of meeting 20 per cent efficiency targets, while at the same time improving levels of patient care.
Partnership working
Stuart McArthur, Laing O’Rourke’s UK healthcare sector leader, is no stranger to the uncertainty that currently pervades. “The White Paper has posed many questions,” he admits. “But with change comes opportunity, both for Trusts and, for us particularly, in terms of partnership working.
“There remain major issues in the physical estate. With 20 per cent of NHS buildings pre-1948, healthcare clients are now faced with finding ways to improve their existing buildings in order to find efficiencies and offer better care and protection to patients. We recognise that many NHS sites are operating at the very limits of their utilities infrastructure
“Under the current White Paper proposals, Trusts have been given greater freedom in determining the use of their land and assets, and there is an increased allowance in the level of private healthcare they can provide.
Wealth of experience
“For Laing O’Rourke, we are already seeing opportunities to work in partnership with Trusts and private providers, drawing on our Group capabilities in development, investment and project management, as well as design and construction.”
The market is in a state of flux, he concludes, “but we have a wealth of experience and expertise to draw on in the UK, Australia and now in Canada after our recent appointment as part of the joint venture for the Centre Hospitalier de L’Université de Montréal (CHUM) redevelopment.
“Going forward, we must use this knowledge base to ensure that our strategic partnerships remain anchored to the principles of clinical design excellence in the delivery of long-term healthcare solutions.”