Senior Roundtable identifies three keys to unlock the strategic value of Estates and Facilities Management

At a recent roundtable, Sodexo brought together Directors of Estates and Facilities Management from NHS Trusts in the South East, Simon Corben Director & Head of Profession for NHS Estates at NHS England, along with leading EFM consultancies, to discuss one fundamental question: What needs to change for Estates and Facilities Management (EFM) to become one of the NHS's most strategic functions?

Improving productivity, maximising estate utilisation and enhancing the patient experience all depend on environments that enable high-quality care to be delivered. As the NHS works to deliver the ambitions of its 10-Year Plan, the discussion reinforced that recognising EFM as a strategic enabler—rather than simply an operational service—will be critical to achieving those ambitions. 

The roundtable explored how digital innovation, workforce development, new operating models and stronger public-private partnerships can help position EFM at the heart of NHS transformation.

From operational support to strategic partner

Many of the ambitions within the NHS 10-Year Plan—from improving patient flow and increasing elective capacity to delivering more care in community settings—depend on having the right estate, infrastructure and support services in place.

Participants reflected firstly on the successful role EFM teams play every day against a backdrop of unrelenting demand and an aging estate. However, all agreed that EFM is often viewed as a corporate support function rather than a strategic enabler of clinical care. Becoming more strategic is not simply about having a seat at the Board table; it is about demonstrating, through evidence and outcomes, how EFM directly influences clinical uptime, workforce productivity, operational resilience and, ultimately, the patient experience

Changing that perception starts with changing the conversation. Rather than focusing on maintenance schedules, compliance or cost improvement programmes, EFM should articulate its value in terms that resonate across the NHS: enabling clinicians to deliver care, improving the use of estate, reducing disruption and supporting better outcomes for patients. Three key themes emerged from the debate: (a) How digital must accelerate EFM evolution, (b) We need to build a Future Workforce, and (c) Can new Operating Models optimise private sector investments.

 

Digital must accelerate EFM's evolution

If there was one theme that united the discussion, it was the need to accelerate digital transformation.

While clinical services have made significant progress, participants felt Estates and Facilities has yet to unlock the full value of digital technology, data and artificial intelligence. Smarter estates, underpinned by connected data, could transform how assets are maintained, how space is utilised and how investment decisions are made.

Just as importantly, greater collaboration between Trusts could accelerate learning across the NHS. Sharing asset lifecycle data, operational insights and best practice would help organisations make better-informed decisions, avoid duplication and improve productivity. Emerging technologies, including Digital Twins, have the potential to support this shift, but success will depend on organisations being willing to share knowledge and embrace a more data-driven approach.