Neighbourhood Health: From Buildings to Systems – A 360 Degree Society Perspective

From a 360 Degree Society perspective, the opportunity is to go further:

• from health centres to neighbourhood health campuses

• from co-location to relationship-based systems

• from commissioning services to commissioning healthier places

The question is no longer whether the NHS builds neighbourhood health centres — but whether it uses them to activate the full potential of neighbourhoods.

The guidance strongly emphasises:

• reuse of existing estate

• improved utilisation

• extended opening hours

• rationalisation before new build [1]

But this reflects a narrow definition of utilisation.

In reality:

• many health buildings are busy during clinic hours

• but largely inactive evenings and weekends

• underused socially, culturally and economically

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