A report published today (19 November) explores the value of the LIFT portfolio highlighting the benefits and advantages of the buildings to local communities and health systems, as well as comparing the relative cost of the LIFT estate to the broader NHS and commercial estate.
The report: “The NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT): Occupancy Cost Assessment” (PDF), produced by PwC for Community Health Partnerships (CHP), finds that the LIFT estate has delivered a host of qualitative and quantitative benefits:
- The LIFT estate has improved the quality and accessibility of services for patients and communities by providing modern, fit-for-purpose and integrated facilities that are flexible and adaptable.
- LIFT provides long term cost certainty to NHS tenants via comprehensive lease agreements. Lease payments for tenants are fixed at lease agreement and increase in line with retail price inflation (RPI) only.
- By comparison commercial rents have increased by 25% in the last seven years. In addition, whilst the rental payment for LIFT premises is higher than a typical commercial development, LIFT agreements provide more services, hence value, than would be offered under standard commercial alternatives.
- LIFT costs include maintenance and lifecycle and provide value for money through ensuring there is no backlog maintenance reducing the significant and increasing cost and risk of maintaining an ageing NHS estate elsewhere.
It is clear from this report that the LIFT estate presents value for money and other significant benefits to the NHS, its patients and staff. Increasing utilisation of the LIFT buildings as core health assets will enable the NHS to deliver the Government’s mission, drive up NHS productivity and transform care delivery while achieving greater value.
The LIFT buildings are modern, well maintain facilities in community settings and through our ability to repurpose and adapt these at pace, we can support the NHS with estate solutions that enables the shift of services into local communities, drive up productivity and unlock value from the current physical infrastructure.
The report evidences the continuing importance of the LIFT buildings, underlining the fact that they are largely located in areas of high health needs and ideally placed to support the Government’s ambition of a Neighbourhood Health Service with more prevention and health care delivered locally.
While headline occupancy costs can be perceived as expensive, our analysis highlights the known underlying under-investment in maintenance across the wider estate.
The analysis we performed using the ERIC data and the LIFT structure re-emphasised that value for money in estates needs to be a balanced assessment. Headline costs can be misleading and value for money needs to consider wider factors including maintenance behaviours.
Managing the estates portfolio will be a continuing challenge and the evolution of ICB estates strategies should allow for more joined up master-planning. Our work with CHP re-emphasises that Value for Money is a broader measure than a headline occupancy price and, aligned to the Darzi findings, ignoring the true cost of a properly maintained estate is a false economy.
The LIFT public private partnerships have provided 350 health centres across England since being established in 2001. Community Health Partnerships (CHP), Head Tenant in 308 of the buildings, commissioned the report from PwC to examine the broad comparative value of the LIFT estate.
Why occupy LIFT?
Modern facilities promote utilisation
Cost certainty and inflation protection
Long term maintenance solution
Lifecycle cost management
Enhancing access to Health Services
Public Sector influence and efficiency
Read the PwC Report
NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT): Occupancy Cost Assessment (PDF) published November 2024.
If you would like to know more about the report and discuss with the CHP team, please contact: info@communityhealthpartnerships.co.uk.
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Read more about our insights on core asset optimisation, place-based care and how CHP supports sustainable NHS infrastructure to enable care for patients closer to home in their local neighbourhoods.
