Space Solutions attend NHS Scotland Assurance Conference

Whether it was through a staff survey or just a gut reaction from talking to close colleagues, 100% of those who responded to the questions we posed at the recent NHS Assure Conference agreed that the pandemic has impacted the way their people want to work – the emphasis here is on the ‘want’.

More than 50% at the NHS Scotland Assure Conference said they have already made changes to their workplace and estate strategy. One quarter hasn’t made any changes, and this reflects an opinion we hear from some clients that there is still some time to go until we reach a steady state. Only then will these organisations have the confidence to implement change.

Almost 60% of respondents saw strategy changes as needing to be backed up with modifications to their physical estate, with the remainder being split equally in the ‘not sure’ or ‘no’ camp. One recent report suggested that there might not be a steady state for 2–3 years. Whether the status quo can be maintained by some for that length of time is debatable.

Our Consultancy & Design team has been assisting the NHS throughout the pandemic and beyond, looking at existing building and estate rationalisation, flexible hybrid workplace design, and the design and implementation of hybrid working pilot spaces to establish and refine protocols for a distributed working model. Adapting to a new working model doesn’t have to involve physical changes to buildings. However, reworking existing space to suit requirements could release space for sub-let and disposal, realising the commercial potential of under-utilised space across an estate. Regardless of the situation, our goal, always, is to optimise how organisations use their workplaces.