Recommendation 3

There is a risk that the new Hospital 2.0 design might not benefit some patients or may add cost. The Hospital 2.0 design was originally due to be ready in December 2023 but, following multiple delays, the Department will not finalise the design until summer 2026 at the earliest. A key aspect of the design is that wards will consist of solely single bedrooms. The Department expects single bedrooms to lead to efficiencies such as fewer hospital acquired infections and shorter hospital stays for patients. However, some research has indicated that the clinical and economic impact of single bedrooms may be modest. The Department has not clearly explained what metrics it will use to assess whether it is realising benefits, nor has it sufficiently focused on unexpected downsides of 100% single bedroom wards. For example, some patients, particularly those that are frailer or more vulnerable, may feel alienated being alone and monitored remotely. The Department acknowledges that the new hospitals may incur more staff costs until new ways of working are embedded. 4 recommendation The Department must ensure the new hospital design delivers benefits. It should: a. alongside its Treasury Minute response to this report, the Department should write to the Committee with details of how it expects the new design to lead to measurable benefits for patient experience, patient outcomes and operational efficiencies; b. identify tangible risks to achieving these benefits and seek to manage these; and c. commission and report the results of an independent assessment of whether the benefits are being realised following the opening of the first hospitals built to the new Hospital 2.0 design.