How NHSPS transformed the use of NHS space with NHS Open Space

NHSPS embraced innovative technology as a catalyst for better estate management and utilisation through NHS Open Space. Built by the NHS for the NHS, the space management system has to date delivered £5 million in additional revenues to the NHS, provided 3.5 million hours of vital patient care and offered services a greater choice of flexible accommodation in the heart of local communities.

About NHS Property Services

NHS Property Services (NHSPS) provides strategic estates services to enable excellent patient care. As part of the NHS, we help Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Trusts and GP practices to better assess, adapt and manage around 3,000 buildings – safely and sustainably. And last year our team of 5,500 experts helped customers unlock over £150 million to reinvest and transform spaces across England.

The Challenge

When NHSPS was established in 2013, one of the biggest challenges was understanding how buildings were being used, as we didn’t have a consolidated view of the data across the portfolio. This was especially difficult when rooms were available for NHS Trusts and healthcare providers who were using rooms on an hourly, sessional or daily basis to provide health services to local communities.

For users of the space it was difficult to find and book rooms. When their colleagues arrived onsite, rooms didn’t always meet the standards required to run their clinics and were sometimes found to be already occupied. This meant patients missed out on accessing vital services and delayed appointments.
For Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) covering some of the operational costs, there was no transparency on how the space was being used or who was using it. Or whether those users were being charged for the space.
For NHSPS, there was no single solution to manage space used by multiple organisations. Property managers and on-site teams were responsible for booking and managing space. The admin process was time-consuming, putting pressure on busy teams trying to manage this space without the correct tools or support. We also couldn’t effectively manage the space without knowledge of who was using it or make the most of underused space.

The solution

As part of the NHS, we understood the issues around using space in the right way, and the concept of NHS Open Space was realised: A booking system and onsite services were built with the customer in mind. That helps users find space that matches their needs. Gives NHSPS and CCGs clear usage and financial data. And improves overall estate management.

In 2018, after a successful proof of concept pilot in six properties, we expanded the scheme across 13 properties—all with onsite customer service and standardised best practices and management models. Motion-activated workplace sensors were installed in all rooms to measure occupation activity.

We took the decision to build our own booking platform. Partnering with Kajima Partnership Limited, a UK-based technology company, to carry out the work. Kajima and the NHS Open Space team worked closely with existing users, gathering feedback to create a user-focussed, intuitive booking platform specifically designed for the needs of the NHS.

The platform went live in April 2019 and was rolled out across the NHSPS estate in late 2019.

The full, end-to-end service provided:

Users with a self-service booking platform offering them complete control to manage their own bookings, empowering them to align their space requirements with patient service provision.
Management with a single place to access utilisation reporting across the entire estate with the ability to drill down into property, and room level data.
Finance teams with a single platform that manages the end-to-end process of booking and paying for sessional space. Introducing upfront payments as part of the booking process dramatically increased cost recovery.
The ability to deliver a higher quality utilisation data that is a blend of room booking information and, more importantly, data fed back into the system from real-time sensors monitoring actual room usage.

The impact

NHS Open Space was built by the NHS for the NHS. Our unique understanding of the challenges and issues that CCGs, Trusts
and Landlords, users and patients face was instrumental in delivering a successful solution that worked for all parties.

Users found the NHS Open Space platform easy to navigate, and simple to use. Estate and site managers now had a single place to access accurate utilisation data, and the finance team now had out of the box solution for collecting sessional space revenue.

Delivering value to ICBs and the wider NHS wider system

Effective space utilisation is a key priority of ICBs and Trusts. NHS Open Space’s utilisation studies and data-driven reporting enabled them to better understand how space was being used at a room, property or portfolio level. This helped them proactively manage and make more efficient use of the NHS estate. Optimising bookable and vacant space so nothing was left sitting underused and supporting NHS estate efficiencies. In turn, their communities could access more healthcare services from one local hub.
NHS Open Space has delivered over £5 million in additional revenues to the NHS to date. Generated through business development and marketing activities to promote NHS Open Space to local healthcare, wellbeing and community services looking to expand their services or tackle patient backlogs.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, space was required at short notice for hot sites/rooms or to relocate displaced GPs and services. NHS Open Space provided £3.2 million of free clinical space to ensure patients were not impacted.
NHSPS and NHS Open Space became thought leaders in the utilisation and flexible space arena, regularly providing advice to ICB estates and utilisation boards.

For NHSPS

NHSPS’ cost recovery increased from 11% in 2017-2019, to 99.9% in 2018 -2024. These funds are reinvested back into the NHS.
The intuitive booking system made space more accessible, increasing utilisation growth from 19% in 2020 to 39.5% in 2024.
Onsite and local administration time was significantly reduced.
Through proactive management, rooms being used without bookings decreased from 13.3% in 2019, to 3.9% in 2024.
Overall customer satisfaction score is at 8.8 in 2024.

For users of the space

Instant access to NHSPS’ national portfolio of 1,300 rooms across 215 sites.
NHS Open Space’s user base grew from 1,000 at launch to over 7,000 in 2024, and is used by 165+ NHS Trusts and Providers, GPs, charities, and private sector organisations.
NHS Open Space’s customer satisfaction score for onsite experience increased from 7.8 out of ten in 2022 to 8.2 out of 10 in 2024.
NHS Open Space’s customer resolution score (resolving queries) increased from 8.6 out of ten in 2022 to 9.2 out of ten in 2024.

For patients

The increase in services using NHS Open Space meant more healthcare services being delivered to the heart of local communities.
To date, NHS Open Space has delivered 3.5 million hours of vital patient care, seeing over 7 million patients.

Next Steps

In April 2024, NHS Open Space was opened up to all NHS and public sector landlords beyond NHSPS. They can deploy one-off utilisation
studies or ongoing monitoring to better understand how their estate is being used. And then use the platform as an internal booking system or make rooms available to other organisations to monetise underutilised space.

Community Health Partnerships (CHP), who are Head Tenant in 308 healthcare buildings across England, are currently working with NHS
Open Space on a pilot scheme. CHP are using the space management system across eighteen of their buildings in the Midlands and London
regions.