Laura McCormick, Healthcare Strategy Lead at McAvoy, said:

“The Budget Statement sets out a promising direction for NHS building infrastructure, with promises from the Chancellor to ‘renew’ the NHS and reaffirms the ambitions from the government’s 10 Year Health Plan and 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy.

The commitment to deliver 250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres with over 100 to be delivered by 2030, as discussed by the Chancellor, will reshape how primary and community care is accessed across the country. The budget has set out a new approach for delivering construction projects by combining public and private sector collaboration for both new builds and the repurposing of existing public buildings. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), which includes modular building delivery, will be a critical enabler of this.

Laura McCormick

At McAvoy, we are already seeing this realised through our extensive work with NHS Trusts and private healthcare providers. We are working with clients to deliver future-proofed, flexible and sustainable facilities for both clinical and non-clinical uses.

The additional £300 million in capital investment announced in the Budget Statement for NHS technology is also a positive step towards reducing waiting list pressures, an ambition offsite manufacturing supports. By standardising design, accelerating construction timelines, and delivering more predictable costs, through the use of offsite manufacturing, the NHS will be able to deploy facilities such as Neighbourhood Health Centres faster, cutting down wait times in the process.

The NHS faces a £15.9 billion maintenance backlog, and capital will need to work harder than ever to deliver both essential repairs and the environmental sustainability improvements required to meet the NHS’s net zero obligations. While the government’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy had already committed at least £64 billion over the next decade to maintain the health estate, confirmation of investment in the Budget Statement provides welcome reassurance for the sector. Furthermore, it will also help the sector move beyond reactive maintenance and instead look longer term. This change in approach to support healthcare estates meet evolving care needs will be transformative, and is something McAvoy is committed to supporting by delivering sustainable and efficient modular building solutions.”