Healthcare systems around the world are facing a growing challenge. Ageing populations are increasing demand, while carbon and cost pressures make traditional responses harder to justify. Building more hospitals is not always the answer.
We believe the best results come from thinking differently and planning earlier.
- Step 1: Align provision with real, clinical need. This means making full use of data to understand where care is needed and what kind. Often that leads to investment in primary or community-based care, supported by digital solutions like virtual wards. Technology can play a critical role here, but it must be embedded with clear purpose. It is about reducing demand in the most expensive, high-carbon parts of the system.
- Step 2: Adapt what already exists. Where change is needed, the first question should be: can we repurpose? Reuse of existing infrastructure, whether within healthcare or beyond it, can significantly reduce both costs and emissions.
- Step 3: Build only when essential and for the long term. When new infrastructure is required, it must be designed for future flexibility, operational efficiency and net zero outcomes from the outset.
These principles are guiding real projects around the world. In Peru, we’re helping shape a $650 million programme to improve access, efficiency and resilience where care is needed most.
At Monklands in Lanarkshire, we are providing project and cost management for Scotland’s first net zero and digital hospital. We are helping embed technology to support adaptability and reduce carbon.
At Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, we are providing cost and project management for a new cancer care centre. The design is flexible and supports digital care. It can adapt to future needs and includes plans to reduce fossil fuel use.
This week, we have been addressing these issues at COP30. Along with our Sidara collaborative colleagues, we are exploring how governments, healthcare systems and infrastructure owners can meet rising and changing demand while achieving both cost and carbon goals. The focus is not just on what we build, but on how we plan.
Adam Mactavish, our Director of Sustainability, explores this topic further in an article published for COP30. It sets out how a strategy-first approach, rooted in data, aligned to need, and focused on long-term outcomes, can help deliver healthcare systems that work for both people and the planet.