NHS Property Services Limited is a company owned by the

Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the s ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that took over the ownership of around 3,600

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

(NHS) facilities in April 2013.

Creation and purpose

Following the

Health and Social Care Act 2012 The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (c. 7) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for the most extensive reorganisation of the structure of the National Health Service (England), National Health Ser ...

, strategic health authorities and

primary care trust Primary care trusts (PCTs) were part of the National Health Service in England from 2001 to 2013. PCTs were largely administrative bodies, responsible for commissioning primary, community and secondary health services from providers. Until 31 May ...

s in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

were abolished and replaced with GP led commissioning consortia in April 2013. All properties which were not passed to the commissioning groups were transferred to NHS Property Services. The company now manages, maintains and develops the 3,500 NHS properties across England. “Hard” facilities management services, such as plumbing, electrical, mechanical, water and fire safety systems, and lighting were provided by outsourcing giant Mitie from 2016 until April 2020 when they were taken in-house. About 140 Mitie employees were transferred to NHS Property Services. Mitie continues to provide some other services — such as air conditioning, heating and gas. Other services are provided by

Chubb Locks Chubb Locks is a former brand name of the Mul-T-Lock subsidiary of the Assa Abloy Group, which manufactures locking systems for residential, secure confinement and commercial applications. When the brand licence expired in 2010 the name cea ...

, Premier Technical Services Group Limited, and Dale.

BMA legal case

In 2020 a legal case was brought by the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

which argued the fees NHS Property Services demanded were unlawful. The dispute over rent and service charges incurred by GPs who occupy PropCo-owned property affected more than 800 GP practices. In February 2021, NHS PSL countersued over unpaid fees. The full trial for the BMA’s case and NHS Property Services’s counterclaim was scheduled for March 2022. In the judgement released in June 2022, it was determined the practices contesting the case did owe fees but the details were to be later determined by the court to the extent that amounts and terms were still disputed by the parties to the case. In an out of court settlement, the BMA and NHS PSL agreed significant reductions in outstanding fees for those practices party to the cases.

Commercial information

In 2021 it was reported that it had agreed tenancy details with 97% of the providers who used its buildings and that the organisations debts had been reduced from more than £700 million in 2019 to less than £500 million. Martin Steele, the chief executive, said a court judgment on the charging mechanisms would be “good news because at least everyone will be clear on the position”. In 2022 the company had transformed 69 vacant or under-utilised spaces in its properties for use by community groups or provision of non-clinical services as part of its national social prescribing programme.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Department of Health and Social Care Government-owned companies of England