This year marks the 25th anniversary of the NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme, a pioneering public-private partnership model that has helped transform community healthcare infrastructure across England since 2001. The programme has delivered hundreds of modern health facilities and continues to play an important role in supporting the NHS’s ambitions for neighbourhood health and community-based care.
For Prime, the anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on the role of Birmingham & Solihull LIFT (BaS LIFT) and Prima 200, both established in 2004, and the value that long-term partnership can deliver for patients, communities and the NHS.
While the creation of modern healthcare facilities is an important part of the LIFT story, the real strength of the model lies in what happens after a building opens. Prime has worked alongside NHS partners and Community Health Partnerships for more than two decades, helping ensure facilities continue to adapt in response to changing healthcare needs and community priorities.
Healthcare is constantly evolving. New technologies emerge, services move closer to home and communities themselves grow and alter. As a result, healthcare buildings cannot stand still. The facilities that deliver the greatest long-term benefit are those that can adjust alongside the services they accommodate and the people they serve.
The LIFT model was designed with this challenge in mind. By creating long-term partnerships rather than one-off developments, it provides a framework for continual improvement, allowing buildings to respond to new models of care and changing patient needs throughout their lifecycle.
One of the strongest examples of this approach can be found at Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre in Birmingham.
Originally developed through Birmingham & Solihull LIFT Co, the centre has evolved over time to support a growing range of healthcare services. Most recently, with support from Prime as developer, it became home to the Washwood Heath Community Diagnostic Centre, bringing diagnostic services closer to local communities and helping to improve access to care while reducing pressure on acute hospital settings.
The project has received national recognition as an example of how community healthcare infrastructure can be adapted to support the NHS’s focus on earlier diagnosis, prevention and care closer to home. It demonstrates the value of the long-term relationships that sit at the heart of the LIFT model.
Because partners remain involved long after a building is completed, opportunities to enhance facilities, introduce new services and respond to emerging healthcare priorities can be identified and delivered collaboratively. Rather than being viewed as a finished project, the building continues to evolve alongside the community it serves.
Deepak Marwaha, Director of Birmingham & Solihull LIFT Co, said:
“The true value of LIFT isn’t simply in the buildings that have been delivered, but in the partnerships that have been sustained over time. Through Birmingham & Solihull LIFT Co, we’ve spent more than two decades working alongside NHS partners to ensure our facilities continue to evolve in response to changing healthcare needs and community priorities.
As the NHS continues its shift towards neighbourhood health, prevention and earlier diagnosis, long-term partnerships such as Birmingham & Solihull LIFT will remain important in ensuring healthcare facilities continue to evolve and meet the needs of local communities.”
The principles that have underpinned the LIFT programme remain as relevant as ever. Modern healthcare requires flexible, adaptable facilities, but it also requires partnerships that are committed to supporting them over the long term, long after the ribbon is cut.
