Government-owned property company to take over surplus NHS property estate

Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley said that NHS Property Services Ltd, which will be owned by the Department of Health, will take ownership of surplus existing primary care trust (PCT) estate that will not transfer to community care providers as part of the Health and Social Care Bill.

Properties to be transferred will include some operational buildings, those containing multiple occupiers, office and administration buildings, estates occupied by social enterprises and surplus estate.

The Government had announced in August that foundation trusts and other NHS trusts were to be given the opportunity to acquire parts of the PCT estate deemed "service critical clinical infrastructure" when PCTs are abolished by April 2013.

The objectives for NHS Property Services Ltd have been announced and will include holding property for use by community and primary care services, including social enterprises, and disposing of property that is surplus to NHS requirements.

"This is the first and a largely administrative step in the process," said Arthur Lovitt, a property law expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. "There clearly needs to be interface with the private sector. It is unknown at this stage whether there will be involvement with the private sector on a regional basis, aligning with PCT clusters, or whether there will be a national partnership. A national partnership was unsuccessful when the idea was tested a decade ago for the whole NHS estate."

"If private interface takes place on a regional level, will there be a role for the Liftcos who have assembled teams and supply chains to develop and manage property?" said Lovitt. Liftcos are public private joint venture companies established to deliver primary health care facilities. "Liftcos are looking for new areas to develop their businesses as new Lift Developments dry up. It will be interesting to see if a similar procurement to Liftexpress will be developed to select suitable partners."

"If a private partnership is set up on a national basis, what type of organisation will it interest? This will depend on what is offered. Large organisations exist whose core business is taking over and running the public sector estate, such as Telerreal Trillium and the DWP Estate. If it will it be more of a property management role, a different type of organisation would be interested. Whatever happens, there are likely to be large transfers of staff under TUPE laws," he said.

The company will be required to deliver value for money property services, cut the costs of administering the estate by consolidating its management, and to deliver and develop cost-effective property solutions for community health services, Lansley said.

NHS providers which occupy estates for the provision of clinical services will have that estate transferred to them, whilst existing service providers that deliver and maintain NHS properties will remain in place, he said.

The Health and Social Care Bill was introduced into Parliament on 19 January 2011. The Department of Health said that the Bill is a crucial part of the Government’s vision to modernise the NHS so that it is built around patients, led by health professionals and focused on delivering world-class healthcare outcomes.