Healthcare Vital Signs

The next decade will see a radical overhaul of the central London healthcare real estate offer and portfolio, with the major FTs – notably Guy’s, St Thomas’, King’s and UCH – being encouraged to make better use of their prime estates in value and operational terms. At the same time, the NHS property strategy team is tasked with making the estate more efficient to save money, free up resources and provide buildings suitable for new ways of delivering healthcare. These moves (along with private initiatives inside and outside the HSMA) will complement the existing largerscale offerings to the north in the Knowledge Quarter – centred around the Francis Crick Institute and Wellcome Foundation – and west towards the Imperial College knowledge hub at White City. The HSMA is constantly seeking to find ways of advancing in the fields of medical science, research and technology. Projects in the pipeline include bringing laboratories into the HSMA, the introduction and greater integration of MedTech, new consulting and diagnostic houses, and incubator units with short flexible leases, as and when required. From a wider perspective, the sector will need to adapt to and anticipate the impact of digital healthcare treatment. Apps such as GP at hand (Babylon Health) are set to revolutionise how we interact with GPs , while healthcare delivery by handheld and wearable technology is expected to increase as the population takes practical and financial control of their own healthcare – by choice or necessity. 29 | CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD