Supporting the drive for more ‘Health on the High Street’

Over the past few years, the Health on the High Street (HOTHS) movement has taken shape in various ways.

HOTHS was first mentioned in an NHS Confederation report in 2020, with a concept of ‘reimaging the connection between the NHS and the high street’, and the role health could play in supporting economic and social recovery.

More broadly, it was proposed as a way for the NHS to get directly involved in high street policy, supporting communities through the reshaping of vacant high street units into integrated health centres, thereby revitalising footfall into our town centres.

But while the idea has been explored in recent years, its implementation has been gradual, with local authorities tackling a significant £6.2 billion national funding gap which has the potential to affect the adoption and redevelopment. The concept is gaining momentum, helping improve healthcare accessibility in a more sustainable way, with a green building, retrofit and redevelopment rhetoric now firmly established in national and industry consciousness.

At Pick Everard, were working strategically with local authorities and NHS Trust to implement such schemes, their relevancy, as well ensuring the correct level of funding, all of which is key.

An example of this was the Sands Centre in Carlisle, which commenced in 2017 to support an aging infrastructure. NHS trust operators saw this as a good opportunity to improve resource within a community hub, with the new sports centre strategically located with NHS physiotherapy services nearby to support rehab patients. The practice more overtly shows the health benefits of having sport, fitness and wellbeing so closely integrated together, as well as making a great deal of sense from an accessibility view.

We are also seeing commercial spaces, including retail units both small and large, undergoing refurbishment across the country.

One project we are currently working on is transforming a vacant unit within a busy shopping centre into a space for an ophthalmology department for an NHS trust. This will enable the specialist healthcare department to relocate into a bigger space in a central location with high footfall, making it easily accessible and convenient to the public, while removing the fear factor many people face when entering a hospital environment. This is a good example of how our defunct shopping centres can be repurposed for the 21st century and help build healthier, more resilient cities. This change will also ease pressures on a department on already overcrowded hospital sites and in much need of extensive refurbishment.

Benefit by integration

HOTHS initiatives make healthcare services more accessible to residents, especially in rural areas where travel distances can be significant. And when it comes to those residents needing to make a journey, it makes sense to use this as a way to bring people back into town centres and really revitalise our high streets. As much as it is about bringing healthcare provisions into centralised areas, HOTHS also has the potential to contribute to economic growth and support local businesses by increasing footfall in surrounding areas.

Overall, there is also the potential for improved health outcomes and enhanced wellbeing, with these convenient and accessible services promoting preventive care and early intervention. This is particularly the case when we consider what makes people reluctant to visit their GP – if it feels like a difficult trip to make, it can be simplified by bringing services into more familiar locations, or we can strip away pressure from NHS hospitals by integrating some of the most widely used services, such as X-ray and ultrasound facilities, into local community settings. HOTHS initiatives can also foster a sense of community and support the overall well-being of residents.

Scaling the opportunities

The successful implementation of HOTHS requires careful planning and consideration of logistical factors, such as location and accessibility. This is why repurposing premises has been seen as an effective way for NHS to deliver more for communities, especially in smaller towns. This could be seen in the way it was utilised during the recent pandemic, when accessible hubs were important for rolling out the mass vaccination programme. This was a prime example of not always needing traditional healthcare settings to deliver services, demonstrating how effectively it could be done. Our industry has also been completely au fait with retrofit and offsite construction methods, that can mitigate operational disruption and shorten project timelines, ensuring that we can deliver opportunities for placement of services elsewhere, a lot quicker and efficiently.

When it comes to external parties, stakeholder engagement has also shown to be an essential part of making HOTHS successful. Only through effective collaboration between local authorities, healthcare providers and community organisations can we begin to make these solutions happen.

With the new Labour government, regeneration has been high on the agenda along with a huge push for new housing. As more inner-city populations expand, we are seeing schemes where developers are becoming landlords, and in partnership with local authorities, NHS hubs can be integrated into their sites. With hospitals so saturated, the private market will play an important role in this movement as well as securing adequate funding and resources that can see these projects through.

Addressing future challenges

As the ageing population continues to grow and the demand for healthcare services increases, HOTHS initiatives are likely to become even more important. By integrating healthcare into community spaces, these initiatives can help to address the challenges faced by both the NHS and local communities.

The resurgence of Health on the High Street represents a promising approach to improving healthcare accessibility and revitalising town centres. By providing convenient and accessible healthcare services, HOTHS initiatives can contribute to the overall health and well-being of communities across the UK. As local authorities and healthcare providers continue to explore this concept, it is hoped we will continue to see innovative ideas to address the challenges, regenerate our high streets and make our communities more resilient and sustainable for the future.

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