RAAC hospital assessment highlights need for careful planning to maintain NHS services

A newly published strategic planning assessment of seven NHS hospitals constructed using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has reinforced the scale and complexity of the challenge facing parts of the NHS estate.

Commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care and prepared by Mott MacDonald, the assessment examines the condition and future viability of seven hospitals most affected by RAAC. While the report concludes that these hospitals can remain operational in the short to medium term through ongoing mitigation and remediation, it is clear that RAAC is a life-expired material and that long-term replacement of affected buildings is unavoidable.

The assessment highlights that even with significant mitigation measures in place, residual risk remains in areas where RAAC elements are inaccessible. Alongside this, ageing infrastructure continues to place pressure on clinical services, operational efficiency and maintenance budgets. As a result, the report strongly supports the need for early and well-planned replacement programmes as part of the wider New Hospital Programme.

Importantly, the report also recognises that replacing major hospital infrastructure is not a single event but a complex, phased process that must prioritise patient safety and service continuity. Trusts are required to balance structural risk management with the ongoing delivery of safe, high-quality care, often over extended timescales.

This is where careful, flexible planning becomes essential. Temporary and transitional healthcare facilities can play a valuable role in supporting NHS organisations during periods of remediation, refurbishment or phased redevelopment. By providing additional clinical capacity away from affected areas, trusts can reduce disruption to patients and staff while longer-term solutions are delivered.

Vanguard Healthcare Solutions has long worked alongside NHS trusts to support service continuity during major estate challenges, including refurbishment programmes, emergency response and capacity pressures. Our role is not to replace permanent hospital investment, but to provide high-quality, clinically safe facilities where additional or decant capacity is required, enabling essential services to continue while permanent infrastructure is addressed.

As the RAAC assessment makes clear, the NHS faces difficult decisions around prioritisation, funding and delivery timelines. Addressing these challenges will require collaboration across estates, clinical and operational teams, supported by partners who understand the sensitivity, complexity and importance of maintaining patient care throughout periods of change.

Vanguard remains committed to working collaboratively with NHS organisations, Integrated Care Boards and national bodies to support safe, resilient healthcare delivery, wherever and whenever temporary or modular solutions are needed as part of a wider, long-term estate strategy.