Consolidation of leased office estate in Lancashire to save the NHS £1.8M

Customers: East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Blackburn with Darwen CCG, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

NHSPS representatives: Mark Owens, Senior National Office Programme Manager; Zak Limbada, Senior Property Manager; Mike Hill, Senior Construction Manager; Justin O’Donnell, Facilities Service Manager; Muhammad Arham, Principal Evaluation & Analytics Manager; Rohan Chudasama, Senior Analyst

The leases at Walshaw House (East Lancashire CCG’s HQ) and Fusion House (Blackburn with Darwen CCG’s HQ) were nearing expiry in 2021, presenting an opportunity to review the office footprint and make it more efficient.

During a period of significant organisational transformation for both CCGs, a strategy was required to reduce the floor space occupied, facilitate co-location of the CCGs and deliver cost savings for the health system.

There was an opportunity to exit Walshaw House at lease expiry in July 2021, so time was of the essence for our National Office Programme to review the options available.

A deal (which included a reduced rent and rent free incentives) was struck by our Property Management team with the Landlord at Fusion House; increasing the CCG’s current occupation and committing to the facility for a further 5 years with a break at year 3. This provided the opportunity for East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen CCGs to co-locate and consolidate its corporate functions onto a significantly smaller footprint and terminate leasehold liabilities at Walshaw House.

Investment of c£250,000 was required to deliver this strategy.  This was to enable the expansion of the CCGs’ occupation at Fusion House, and to re-house some Walshaw-based Trust staff within vacant/underutilised space at nearby (NHSPS-owned) Brierfield and Padiham Health Centres. Plans are in place to finalise all works by May 2021, so that NHSPS has sufficient time to decommission Walshaw House ahead of hand back on 31 July 2021.

Designs across this three-site solution were completed in consultation with the CCGs and Hospital Trust, which enabled the NHSPS Construction team to tender out the work and firm up the capital costs. This meant a more robust financial proposal could be developed and submitted to the stakeholders for approval.

Our Facilities Management team supported throughout the project and will be supporting the decommissioning of Walshaw House.

By repurposing vacant space at Brierfield and Padiham Health Centres we have reduced void space, as well as releasing 3,778sqm by consolidating onto a more efficient footprint at Fusion House. This will deliver £1.8 million in savings to the NHS over a three-year period.

Works at Brierfield and Padiham sites include reconfigured admin areas, refurbished rooms and increased capacity which will improve Trust staff experience considerably.

By April 2021, the Ground and First Floors at Fusion House officially became the HQ for East Lancashire / Blackburn with Darwen CCGs; accommodating 140 people. New space on the Ground Floor will support a smarter working approach, with a recognition that post COVID there will be a shift from the previous focus on desks to a need for improved flexible, collaboration space. Co-locating CCGs will support a more collaborative and joined-up approach to healthcare planning across the region.

We will be kitting out the new office space in the coming months, but here's what the refurbished space looks like so far.