KEY FACTS

• Clinical Commissioning Groups with delegated estates responsibility, the Sustainability and Transformation Estates team, NHS England and the Department of Health’s Strategic Estates Advisor for the locality should be included as statutory consultees. The Department of Health Strategic Estates Advisor acts as a conduit to the STP group, sharing information and ensuring timely responses to large consultation and strategy documents.
• Most of the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG’s) have become fully delegated, taking over the responsibility of primary care from NHS England. As part of this transfer of responsibility individual CCG’s will be taking over the statutory consultee role from NHS England. Where this is
  the case the Local Authority will be informed of a change of contact.
• Responses in relation to primary care impact and need will be coordinated by the statutory consultee from relevant parties within the local health economy.
• There are processes beginning to be established which will enable the coordination of planning consultation responses on behalf of the whole health economy. These will be established at different times within different STP areas. Information will be available on the Essex Design Guide Website.

How to support healthcare infrastructure providers;

• Engage with health teams at the start of and during the pre-application process to discuss any healthcare requirements that arise from the proposal. Engage with them on HIA requirements.
• Planning teams should be aware of how to contact the CCG, STP estates team and local NHS estates lead.
• Continue to liaise with NHS estates colleagues. Discuss the need for new services and increased capacity and be aware of the strategic objectives
  for the STP and local health teams. It is important to understand that need may not always take the form of new infrastructure as there may be capacity within existing healthcare settings or other public sector buildings that, with investment, could provide the solution to capacity and service issues increasingly with changes in models of care, the need could take the form of support for new health and wellbeing initiatives or other one off investment to increase workforce or introduce digital solutions. Share information of potential premises disposals or sharing opportunities at an early stage.
• Access to healthcare facilities for everybody, by any mode of transport, at key times of the day, 7 days a week, should be considered in design.
• Planning teams should consider attending the relevant estates group(s), where appropriate to do so. These groups discuss NHS estate and infrastructure and are a forum where planning issues can be addressed directly with health colleagues.
• Consider the wider health economy when looking at planning, especially local development plans. Healthcare is an interdependent system so an
  increase in primary care services will impact upon other providers such as acute hospitals and community services.
• Consider how people in existing and new communities will link to services and ensure that principles of connectivity and accessibility have been included. Consider how digital and technological support can be provided and future-proofed.
• Consider how the development can assist with prevention, self-care, social inclusion and effective liaison between health and community initiatives.