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Defining a vision for infrastructure across Greater Manchester
LOCATION: GREATER MANCHESTER | PROJECT AREA: STRATEGIC ADVISORY SERVICES | PROJECT STATUS: COMPLETED
In March 2024, NHS England asked all Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to develop a ten-year system-wide infrastructure strategy that delivers the NHS Long Term Plan.
In partnership with Eric Wright Partnerships, we bid through Community Health Partnerships (CHP) on behalf of NHS Greater Manchester (NHSGM) to research, plan, create and write the infrastructure strategy for NHSGM, the largest ICS in the country.
Spanning 10 Places, 65 PCNs, 13 provider organisations and a population of 2.9 million, with a £563.3 million estate running cost per annum, this was a huge task, and with NHS infrastructure strategy guidance only published at Easter, with a deadline of the end of July, we only had eight weeks to deliver.
The challenge
The Greater Manchester population suffers from many health inequalities, with low life expectancies and high levels of unemployment and deprivation compared to other areas of the country. With an ever-increasing demand for services, severe financial pressures, and a £86.5m backlog maintenance deficit, the ICS is facing serious challenges. However, there are opportunities too, with an ambitious programme of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) underway, and the recent completion of a new trauma centre at Salford Royal Hospital.
We produced a ten-year plan to reimagine the way services are delivered and the impact of infrastructure, to deliver efficiencies, and to improve the health outcomes of residents.
The solution
It was important that the creation of the strategy was not just a desktop exercise – we wanted to conduct as much engagement with stakeholders as possible within the timeframe to ensure that all partner organisations and teams within the ICS were able to have a voice in the direction the System was going to go in future.
We spoke to 75 individuals, including representatives from all Strategic Estates Groups (SEGs), Places and provider organisations, to ensure we had an idea of their current position, vision, key challenges and key opportunities.
It was also essential that rather than just completing a strategy and presenting it to the ICS, we worked together with the team at NHSGM to create the strategy, so the team have ownership of the project.
The core project team included staff from both the ICS and Community Health Partnerships, as well as Community Ventures and Eric Wright Partnerships, with dedicated people seconded to the project. To ensure creation of the strategy went smoothly, we had shared documents to work on that everyone could access, and weekly whole-team project meetings to ensure progress was on track.
The result
The resulting 200+ page strategy was delivered on time, and to a high standard.
It sets the direction of travel for organisations across the System. The vision for infrastructure includes guidance and key principles to follow in future.
For example, the infrastructure strategy sets out that they want to move to a usership model, so that the development of new infrastructure will be based around services being delivered in the right spaces, with the right equipment, and not limited by the ownership of buildings and source of funding.
The strategy also sets out the capital pipeline plan, divided into immediate, medium and longer term priorities. With an estimated capital requirement of several billion pounds, the capital delivery plan methodology is vital to ensure the ICS can continue to provide the best care for its patients.
The submission of the infrastructure strategy to NHS England is not the end of the story. It’s designed to be a live document, constantly referred to and updated.
The next steps are an autumn refresh of the document, picking up any changes suggested since the original publication, and also extending the range of the engagement to include more stakeholders.
Also, the ambition for the extent of new housing in the area will be refined and updated in the strategy along with the potential impact on services.
There’s plenty of hard work still to come to ensure NHSGM remains able to continue supporting the population to live healthier, longer lives, but they have a vision for the next ten years to work from.
“Timescales were extremely tight, but the combined team pulled out all the stops and delivered to time. From appointment to the final production of the strategy, Community Ventures were proactive, approachable and delivery focused. I’d be delighted to work with them again on future projects and wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Community Ventures to any ICB or NHS Trust.”
Estates Business Partner, NHS Greater Manchester
Anthony Fitzgerald
“The team have displayed exceptional levels of professionalism to deliver a comprehensive and concise infrastructure strategy. They mobilised with impressive efficiency despite a challenging timeframe for delivery, and engagement sessions were meticulously evaluated to create an easy to read, yet highly impactful strategy document.”
