Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Accepted
NHS Providers warn Hospital 2.0's 95% bed occupancy assumption is unsustainable and unsafe.
Conclusion
In written evidence to us, NHS Providers advised that the standardised design had to be sufficiently future-proofed to handle changes in demand, practice and public expectations. It was concerned that future planned bed occupancy levels should be safe, and warned that 95% occupancy “may not be sustainable” and might not be flexible enough to allow hospitals to cope with fluctuations in demand.35
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that future hospitals must be the right size, committing to keep assumptions under constant review and working jointly with NHSE and local bodies to model long-term infrastructure needs and ensure future expansion capability.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The government agrees that it is vital that future hospitals are the right size and it will keep the assumptions on size of future hospitals under constant review. The NHP is working jointly with wider NHSE to develop its modelling and ensure fit with regional and national modelling on the long-term infrastructure needs of the NHS, across acute, community and primary care settings. NHP is also putting forward different options on programme scope, as is normal practice, as part of its programme business case, which is due to be agreed by May 2024. To tailor its central modelling to local needs, NHP is also developing a standardised, bottom-up model to assess the most probable net demand, jointly with NHS trusts and integrated care boards. This work requires a high level of collaboration with a wide range of local NHS and other stakeholders to combine national expertise and best practice with local knowledge. As well as ensuring that hospitals are not too small, this approach will also ensure that hospitals are not too big, thus avoiding unnecessary capital costs and ensuring that trusts can afford the running costs of the new facilities. One of the principles of Hospital 2.0 is that it should maximise the opportunity for future expansion, and this has been factored in standard designs to ensure this can happen for minimum cost and operational disruption.