20:20 vision for Citycare and Community Ventures Leeds

The Public Private Partnership model LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) was set up in 2001, which means that early LIFT companies such as Hull Citycare and Community Ventures Leeds (both established in 2004) celebrate their 20^th anniversary this year.

The aim of LIFT was to modernise the aging NHS primary healthcare estate, ensuring services could be delivered within communities and were fit for the future, putting patient care first. Bringing the best of both public and private sectors together was the key to unlocking delivery of modern and fit-for-purpose facilities.

Being 40% public sector and 60% private sector owned allows private investment to support the development of these vital public assets, and all parties have a shared interest and commitment to ensuring the facilities are maintained in day one condition.

As a company, Sewell Group has a long-established history in these PPPs as the local investment and development partner, and as a collective we are involved in managing 11 of the LIFT Companies across the country, which account for 30% of the LIFT estate overall.

Citycare comprises 14 health and medical centres around Hull, ranging from smaller local health centres to the innovative Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre. With over 30,000 square metres of facilities, Citycare is focused on having ‘healthy’ buildings, with it being the only LIFT estate across the country that has fully converted to LED lighting, and buildings having rainwater harvesting tanks, solar panels and green roofs.

Community Ventures Leeds has 11 buildings across the city, providing 29,000 square metres of space for health, social care and community services provided by the NHS, local authorities and Third Sector organisations in the city, including GP practices, libraries, Jobcentre Plus, children’s centres and pharmacies. Established in 2004, it began with a five-year capital programme of around £65m, delivering 11 new health and community care facilities across Leeds.

Both LIFT companies have brought improved access to services for patients in their respective cities, and pioneered new ways of supporting the commissioning and provision of services, helping reduce the distance patients have to travel for medical appointments.

Tim Wigglesworth, Chief Executive of Hull Citycare, said that before LIFT, accessing medical services was very different for patients.

“Several years ago, many GPs were based in old, outdated buildings that were rundown, expensive to run, had access issues and just weren’t fit for purpose,” he said. “It seems almost unbelievable now, when you look at the purpose-built, sustainable and modern LIFT buildings that now house Hull’s health centres which support a wide range of services and offer great surroundings for patients and staff.”

Many of the areas which LIFT companies serve suffer from higher than average health inequalities, including Hull and Leeds. This makes the investment that LIFT brings even more valuable, as not only does the LIFT portfolio across the country contain around £2.5bn of investment from only £100m of public capital invested, but there are also further economic benefits from the programme directly into communities, such as employment in the design, construction and running of the buildings, and jobs created in the health centres themselves.

Nigel Fenny was involved in the establishment of Community Ventures Leeds as its Chief Executive back in 2004, and has seen the journey the city’s healthcare estate has been on since then.

“When we established what was originally Leeds LIFT Ltd, we knew we wanted to be in it for the long term,” he said. “Part of the success of the LIFT company has been in its ability to change and adapt to shifting health needs. For instance, the ability to repurpose space over time has been essential to ensure our buildings can support the changing model of care and services provision over the first 20 years, and this has enabled buildings to maintain a high level of utilisation in the right places to support services and communities at the right time.”

Dr Jane Fitch, Regional Director North East of Community Health Partnerships, said:

“The recently published Drazi report highlighted five factors impacting on the performance of the NHS. With this in mind, there has never been a more important time to focus on the left shift of care from acute hospitals into the community. As we enter the 20th year of LIFT, we should acknowledge the positive impact that the LIFT programme has had on our local communities, and strive to secure the future of our quality assets.”