Why integrated, data-driven estates are essential to the future of the NHS

Authored by Becky Allen, Healthcare Solutions Lead, MRI Software

The NHS is at a critical juncture. Ageing estates, increasing patient demand, constrained budgets and ambitious net zero targets are placing unprecedented pressure on facilities and estates teams. Yet this challenge also presents a powerful opportunity: to transform healthcare estates through connected, data-driven technology that enables smarter, more proactive decision-making.

Healthcare estates are the backbone of safe, efficient patient care. When buildings, assets and systems perform well, clinical teams are better supported and patient outcomes improve.

One of the most significant pressures facing NHS estates teams is managing historic infrastructure while meeting modern expectations around compliance, sustainability and digital maturity. Too often, systems remain fragmented, creating blind spots that make it difficult to anticipate maintenance needs, manage energy use or evidence statutory compliance.

This is where integrated CAFM platforms become essential. Through MRI Software’s CAFM solution, estates teams can move from reactive maintenance to predictive planned maintenance, supported by automated SFG20 and HTM regimes. Assets are assigned the correct maintenance schedules from the outset, ensuring compliance with the latest guidance while reducing administrative burden.

Real-time data further enhances this capability. MRI Software’s IoT Hub connects building systems, sensors and devices directly into the CAFM solution, providing live visibility over asset condition, environmental performance and occupancy. In sensitive clinical environments such as theatres, NICU and wards, this enables condition-based maintenance that minimises disruption to patients while improving reliability.

Data integration is also critical for meeting NHS reporting requirements. The ERIC return remains a time-intensive, mandatory process for Trusts. By bringing together data from MRI Software’s facilities management, space optimisation, and energy management solutions – unified through the MRI Agora platform – estates teams can collate accurate information directly from operational systems, significantly reducing manual data collection and validation effort.

Beyond compliance, technology must support long-term strategic goals. Six-facet surveys, delivered through the facilities management solution, provide a structured approach to assessing physical condition, functional suitability, space utilisation, quality, statutory compliance and environmental management. This gives trusts a clear, data-backed foundation for prioritising investment and tackling maintenance backlogs.

The future of NHS estates depends on visibility, integration and intelligence. Leaders should be asking not just whether a system solves a single problem, but whether it provides a connected view across the estate through supporting compliance, sustainability and financial accountability.

MRI Software is proud to support NHS organisations on this journey, delivering integrated solutions that transform estates from a cost centre into a strategic asset and enabling care environments that truly support the people who rely on them.