NHS Grampian’s Infrastructure
Across NHS Grampian we own, lease and need to maintain a total of 308 buildings, many of which are among the largest in our communities. Altogether, they have an internal floor area spanning a total of more than 450,000 square metres. To put that in perspective, that’s about 22 times the size of Aberdeen Airport. Half of our buildings are more than 50 years old and the total cost of maintenance which would be necessary to bring our buildings up to modern standards is estimated to be in the region of £200 million. This is before accounting for inflation, VAT and other project specific costs. In the current financial climate, this means planning and prioritising maintenance work take place constantly and is managed through a Business Continuity Plan. This outlines all services deemed critical to the delivery of patient care and helps us plan for and manage any disruption. Building surveys, engineering drawings and engagement with staff and lifecycle maintenance are all essential parts of our ongoing infrastructure planning. At the beginning of 2024, the Scottish Government instructed all health boards to stop any major project development spend for new building projects, with the exception of those already underway (such as the new ANCHOR Centre in Aberdeen, for example). This means we have had to do our best to prioritise within the limitations of the budget that we have. We submitted a plan to the Scottish Government earlier this year which includes an assessment of NHS Grampian’s existing infrastructure. It focuses on essential maintenance rather than major refurbishment, and what must be prioritised now to keep services running.
To access future NHS capital funding to develop and maintain our infrastructure, including plans for investment in environmental sustainability, we are now developing a longer-term investment strategy for our estate over the next 20 to 30 years. This will form part of our broader plan for change across NHS Grampian. Our future plans must reflect changing patterns of service delivery and an increasing reliance on new technology, as well as sustainability, a reduction in our maintenance backlog and continual replacement of essential equipment. It’s also essential we move away from investing in buildings with high operating costs by adapting to changes in service delivery such as those that can be better provided in
people’s homes or local communities. We will continue to invest in new technologies and enable change to ensure we deliver a health service that is fit-for-the-future.