The NHS typically experiences an uplift in demand for healthcare services during the winter months, due to increasing environmental hazards and respiratory conditions.

Plus, with potentially-new COVID-19 variants this winter, the challenges are likely to be exacerbated.

In August this year, NHS England released a set of steps intended to increase capacity, including 7,000 beds to support operational resilience during the winter months.

But, with budget constraints and red tape to negotiate, how easy will this solution be to implement?

It’s down to the key decision-makers to explore more-innovative approaches to patient capacity management this winter.

How offsite construction can help

Offsite-constructed facilities are designed and manufactured within a factory environment prior to being delivered to the final site.

And, with up to 90% of the facility being completed offsite, it provides several benefits to the end user, particularly within the healthcare sector as the process significantly reduces time on site for installation, limiting disruption to busy hospital environments.

Offsite construction for healthcare facilities involves the creation of bespoke, high-specification modular buildings such as theatres and wards that can be designed, developed, and quality checked offsite before being installed on site.

One of the key benefits of offsite-constructed modular builds is the option of implementing a flexible hire or managed service agreement, allowing all project costs including the design, groundworks, construction, delivery, and commissioning, to be incorporated into a single monthly fee

Where a traditional construction approach would usually result in entire sections of the hospital being closed off while building work takes place, as well as the typical delays associated with adverse weather or late deliveries; an offsite modular build culminates in a faster turnaround time due to these factors being eliminated from the build, allowing facilities to be patient-ready in a matter of weeks.

Within healthcare, offsite construction offers a viable solution to many of the difficulties faced by the NHS, which typically centre around cost, speed of delivery, and disruption on site.

Modular theatres and wards, in particular, offer long-term solutions to NHS capacity issues and can be added to existing hospital estates, with the ability to be designed to fit specific spaces and installed in hard-to-access locations while the site remains operational

Overcoming financial challenges

With priority given to critical and essential infrastructure works within the public sector, financial challenges and limited budgets in the NHS are often the main barrier to upgrading and updating facilities; and overcoming these challenges is one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to capacity and operational resilience management.

With up to 90% of the facility being completed offsite, it provides several benefits to the end user, particularly within the healthcare sector as the process significantly reduces time on site for installation, limiting disruption to busy hospital environments

And one of the key benefits of offsite-constructed modular builds is the option of implementing a flexible hire or managed service agreement, allowing all project costs including the design, groundworks, construction, delivery, and commissioning, to be incorporated into a single monthly fee.

Finding a trusted supplier with the knowledge of flexible financing options and modular building expertise to provide this option is key to the success of a project.

Key benefits of offsite construction

• Cost predictability: Easier cashflow management and budget control as costs are outlined at the point of order
• Reduced programme: Compared to a traditional build project, modular facilities can be delivered, installed, and commissioned in a matter of weeks
• Budget flexibility: Entire project costs can be combined into the monthly fee through flexible hire or managed service agreements, allowing for improved economic forecastingQuality control: With stringent processes and procedures in place within the factory, installation and testing of pipework, electrical wiring, and all associated quality checks are completed before delivery of the facility to site
• Sustainability: A ‘factory-first’ approach to construction improves a facility’s overall environmental impact, with modular construction emitting up to 45% less embodied carbon than traditional construction
• With the surge in seasonal demand already beginning, the NHS will need help finding solutions to help manage the surge in patients, improve urgent care performance, and manage operations while working towards meeting patient care targets.

As a standalone solution, offsite construction will not solve the seasonal surge of patients. But, when delivered via flexible hire or managed service agreements, it is a fully-packaged and rapid way of not only adding urgent capacity during the winter months and beyond, but will also help the NHS trusts to carry out vital and much-needed maintenance works that have been delayed due to the pandemic.