Data-driven efficiency: How outsourcing unlocks smarter health & care support services
Leading a health & care organisation means you are constantly facing the pressure to deliver more with less. In figures reported by Healthcare Skills Training International1, NHS organisations were required to improve digital and operational practices by the end of 2025 so that the cost base could be reduced by a minimum of 1%, while also achieving 4% improvements in productivity.
All of this must have been accomplished while maintaining compliance, safety and patient experience. There are some positive signs, such as the NHS reporting in its 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance2 that year-on-year, NHS providers delivered an estimated 5% more activity during 2023/24.
When our teams are delivering Estates and Facilities Management (EFM) services, the complexity often requires managing multiple, critical responsibilities. This was noted at an Institute of Healthcare Engineering & Estate Management (IHEEM)3 roundtable.
Senior EFM leaders cited supporting patient flow, managing car parks, monitoring sustainability and delivery of critical projects, to name just four activities – all of which require technology that “can help deliver, collaborate and join together disparate activities”.
The NHS’ Estates and Facilities Workforce Action Plan4 underlines that “those managing the NHS estate need consistent, accurate data to inform decision-making, strategic planning, and EFM oversight and coordination”.
Outsourcing is one way your Trust can gain visibility when supported by transparent and collaborative data platforms. The data provided then becomes the bridge for shared accountability, continuous improvement, and operational efficiency.
How Sodexo’s Insight Platform provides visibility, action & efficiency for your Trust
Our Insight Platform will also deliver control, transparency and visibility to your Trust, as the tool makes your health and care operations smarter through:
- Right-time reporting of key performance indicators (KPIs) – This provides transparent, service-wide performance tracking tailored to your Trust.
- Data-driven decision making – Move beyond static reports and use right-time insights to co-prioritise, co-plan and co-improve your Trust with confidence and operational efficiency in mind.
- AI-generated insights – Cutting-edge technology distils vast streams of data into actionable wisdom, which will highlight key findings to save you time so you can focus on your operational delivery.
- Monthly operational updates – These provide detailed summaries each month to keep you informed on Trust-wide progress and developments.
- Internal benchmarking and trends – Compare cleaning audits, maintenance procedures, changes in patient dining habits, and costs across your services on a single platform.
- External peer comparison – Easily benchmark your Trust’s performance against external data from the best in the sector, such as ERIC5, which can be integrated into the system and ensures your Trust isn’t just keeping pace, but setting the standard.
- Centralised performance history – You can access all updates and operational findings from previous months in one unified location.
I honestly think that going forward, we will be looking at the platform that you bring as organisations before we start looking at the services that you offer.
I think that is where I see operational digitalisation coming is organisations such as Sodexo saying, 'well you buy our platform, and we'll give you all this insight and we'll deliver the service that responds to that platform'. I think that will be a core component of letting facilities management contracts going forward.
Discover Our New Insight Platform
Learn more about our new Insight Platform and how to introduce this cutting-edge tool to your Trust. Our team is ready to assist you.
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