Pressures on the NHS estate are intensifying from several angles. A growing maintenance backlog exceeding £13 billion, urgent Net Zero commitments, evolving workforce models including hybrid working, and the drive towards Integrated Care Systems (ICS) mean that facilities must adapt.
But where should organisations begin? Whether adjusting to new working models, accommodating growth, maximising productivity, or improving sustainability, it all starts with a clear understanding of how space is used.
Space utilisation metrics help to identify underutilised or over-utilised areas within NHS facilities, allowing for better allocation of space and optimised layouts.
Understanding how spaces are utilised can uncover opportunities to reduce costs associated with unused or underused areas.
Facilities managers can use space utilisation data to optimise maintenance schedules, cleaning routines, and security protocols based on actual usage patterns.
Understanding how spaces are used can reveal opportunities to enhance focus, facilitate different ways of working, and create more comfortable break areas.
Understanding space usage can help to inform long-term strategic thinking: expansions and contractions of space, investments in workplace technology and future leasing agreements.
Yet, many estates lack this clear, actionable data. Coupled with complex approval processes and siloed governance, organisations are missing opportunities to optimise their space and drive efficiency.
To move forward, organisations need to lead with technology-driven, smarter estate decisions. Deploying sensor-based surveys in short and long-term capacities provides invaluable data on how buildings, rooms, and zones are being utilised. This uncovers hidden capacity, highlights usage patterns, and reveals where space can be repurposed or redesigned. Pair this with strategic interpretation and people engagement, and real-world change can be implemented.
Sensor-based surveys can be introduced at different levels depending on the organisation’s goals. Short-term space utilisation surveys offer a fast, focused view of how buildings, rooms, and zones are actually used. Fixed temporarily over a few days or weeks, they generate occupancy heatmaps and compare booking data with real usage - helping teams make more efficient use of existing space. Long-term sensor deployment offers continuous data feeds to support more strategic decisions around workforce planning, space redesign and Net Zero targets. Typical outputs include live dashboards with analytics, benchmarking, longitudinal usage trends and external data integrations. All sensors are confidential, not acting as CCTV, but rather recording patterns to gain a more accurate insight into how people interact with spaces.
In our experience, organisations who have used these solutions have:
With mounting pressures and limited resources, smarter, data-led decisions are now essential for NHS organisations. By understanding how space is used today, organisations can design smarter environments for tomorrow, becoming more flexible, sustainable, and fit for purpose. Sensor-based technology isn’t a standalone solution, but combined with strategic insight and a people-centred approach, it can serve as a catalyst for impactful change.
We’ve partnered with Abintra to bring cutting-edge sensor technology to NHS estates—helping organisations unlock hidden capacity, improve space planning, and accelerate Net Zero goals.
Explore the features, benefits, and real-world impact of our short- and long-term sensor solutions here.