Global City Futures was appointed by the North Bristol NHS Trust to develop sections of the outline and full business cases for the new £50m Elective Centre at Southmead, serving Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG). The Trust recently received national approval for building the new Centre that will provide four elective theatres and 40 beds, aimed at reducing the time people wait for planned care.

The Challenge

Global City Futures is delighted to play a part in supporting the Trust’s strategy; ‘to put the patient first by delivering an outstanding patient experience’. Consistent with many other Trusts across the country, North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston (UHBW) experience pressure on non-elective beds which has a knock on effect on planned care leading to longer waiting times for elective operations. Covid has exacerbated this situation leading to backlogs in waiting lists and a solution was needed to address this situation.  

Developing a business case

Global City Futures supported the completion of both outline and full business cases for the new Elective Centre within constrained timescales, and within a defined cost envelope to meet the funding requirements. Alongside the Trust team, we collaborated with the Trust’s multidisciplinary advisory team to support the completion of the business cases.

While the Trust led the overall development of the business cases, due to internal capacity constraints, and the requirement for specialist financial and business case knowledge, Global City Futures were appointed alongside design and cost consultants by North Bristol NHS Trust. Our team led on the delivery of the financial and economic cases for the outline and full business cases, which set out the case for an elective centre on the Southmead site to support Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire health system capacity issues.