National design for ‘new hospitals’ being downsized

The national design for “new hospitals” will be reduced in size, HSJ understands, amid concerns over “unnecessary” space and cost.

The New Hospitals Programme is expected to make changes to the “Hospital 2.0” standardised design that schemes will be expected to follow.

Changes to the national design are likely to include reduced sizes for rooms and corridor areas as part of ongoing design development. It is also understood these changes will reduce costs.

The changes come amid trusts involved in the New Hospitals Programme raising concerns about the scale of the Hospital 2.0 template after the design was updated in May. They said the update would drive up the potential footprint and cost of their schemes, with the size of wards commonly cited as an issue.

The government did not comment on the expected downscaling of Hospital 2.0, but said designs continue to be “developed and refined”.

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Source: HSJ, 7 August 2024