Key partners from across the health sector came together at the House of Lords yesterday afternoon to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the NHS LIFT programme – a public-private-partnership that has delivered high-quality neighbourhood health facilities across England for the last 25 years.
Established in 2001, with public infrastructure in need of radical investment, the NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (NHS LIFT) brought together the private and public sectors to deliver high-quality Primary healthcare and community facilities via long term joint venture investment partnerships. LIFT buildings are delivered by private investors (who design, build, finance and maintain these assets, taking all building performance risk) working in partnership with Community Healthcare Partnerships (CHP) – the Government owned company that holds a 40% stake in these NHS assets and who operates as the local head tenant.
An anniversary event was hosted in the House of Lords by The LIFT Council (the membership body for private investors in the LIFT Programme) and Lord Keith Bradley, bringing together a range of guests from the public and private sectors – including representatives from Government, the NHS, investors and other key health partners – to celebrate LIFT’s achievements over the last 25 years. Alongside this, The LIFT Council published a new report looking at the ‘Past, Present and Future of LIFT’ with some key takeaways:
- A successful, value-for-money PPP model delivering 350 health buildings – NHS LIFT has delivered 350 new healthcare buildings over the last 25 years, with 9 in every 10 LIFT buildings in areas with above average health needs, delivering vital facilities to those that need them most. Having secured £2.5 billion of private investment, for just £100m of public money, NHS LIFT is one of the most successful PPP models to-date and has been independently reviewed to demonstrate value for money;
- A LIFT estate that continues to serve millions of patients at the frontline of Primary Care – the 350 LIFT health centres are located in the heart of the community, ensuring millions of patients can continue to access care in an accessible, convenient location. As modern, flexible buildings, many LIFT health centres also continue to be adapted to meet changing health needs, including bringing key screening and diagnostic services out of major hospitals and into a neighbourhood setting;
- A vital foundation for future neighbourhood health delivery – a number of NHS LIFT buildings have already been selected to become some of the first new neighbourhood health centres announced by Government, ensuring the LIFT estate continues to be at the heart of future neighbourhood health provision. In addition, the LIFT estate is already playing a key role in Government ambitions for the NHS to shift from hospital to community care, from sickness to prevention, and from analogue to digital.
Speaking at the LIFT 25th anniversary event, Minister of State for Health Karin Smyth MP said: “The NHS LIFT programme recognised a really important need – the need for the poorest communities to have access to the best possible facilities and care. LIFT was a pragmatic solution to use public sector assets with private sector finance and expertise – it was a great ambition, and it has delivered. LIFT has been at the frontline of neighbourhood health since 2001 and as we now look to new partnership models, everything we’ve learned over the last 25 years through LIFT will be crucial in shaping the next wave of neighbourhood health services.”
Lord Bradley said: “Throughout my many years in politics and healthcare, it is rare to find a piece of public policy that continues to resonate long after it was first created, but the NHS LIFT programme does exactly that. LIFT has not only delivered vital health facilities for millions of patients over the last 25 years, it is also a programme that will continue to have a lasting impact long into the next chapter of the NHS. As we now look to the health ambitions of the future, LIFT offers an important springboard for success and a firm foundation for the next 25 years of neighbourhood health.”
You can read the full LIFT report here.
