Article: Bringing Healthcare to the High Street

Article by Andrew Reavley, Director at LM and Ian Sabini, Deputy MD at gbpartnerships consult - May 2026. Originally published on Green Street News: Europe.

The discussion around bringing healthcare to the high street is not a new one. Since the NHS Confederation’s 2020 ‘Health on the high street’ report, many have noted the benefits of integrating healthcare and retail. With an ageing population, an increase in people living in urban areas and a significant hit to the high street and many retail destinations post-pandemic, retail schemes seem to offer a clear solution to higher healthcare demand. The benefits retail assets receive from the integration of healthcare should not be underestimated either. However, while discussions around this have been resoundingly positive, delivery has not matched the pace of this enthusiasm.

Working at over 60 of the UK’s leading retail destinations, LM has seen firsthand the benefits of integrating health hubs into retail schemes. Our collaboration with gbpartnerships combines our extensive property expertise with gbpartnerships wealth of experience in partnering with public and private sector health providers to deliver, plan and solve complex estates schemes. Together, we are actively exploring the opportunities available for NHS and private health uses in retail settings and the challenges around implementation.

The most developed form of community service to date is the Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) programme, the first of which opened in 2021. These centres deliver planned consulting, diagnostic and outpatient services in convenient locations including shopping centres. There are now around 165 CDCs in England with more in the pipeline. While some locations have been temporary, such as the CDC in Beales department store in Poole that had to relocate when the retailer stopped trading, a number have successfully set up permanent locations in major centres including Metrocentre Gateshead and Wood Green in London – both schemes where LM are instructed and in the case of the later where gbpartnership delivered the strategic and technical feasibility, design advisory services on behalf of the NHS.

The 2025 NHS Spending review and the NHS 10 Year Plan for England has driven momentum, setting a strategic direction toward expanding community-level health provision. The most recent budget announcement saw Rachel Reeves reiterating the commitment for up to 250 new neighbourhood centres by the end of the plan period, following a pilot scheme across 43 locations in England.

While the benefits of the new policy direction are clear, implementation remains significantly more challenging. Responsibility for delivering these ambitions sits largely with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), and Neighbourhood Integrators, which are partnerships made up of acute and community NHS providers, local government and GP Federations. However, ICBs are undergoing major restructuring. NHS England is being dissolved over a two year period, and from April 2026 the number of ICBs will reduce from 42 to 26. Alongside ongoing local government reorganisation, this creates additional complexity and delays in expanding essential services into retail settings.

gbpartnerships plays a critical role in supporting ICBs, Neighbourhood Integrators and NHS organisations to clarify future delivery objectives and define effective implementation strategies. At the same time, LM’s real estate expertise is helping commissioning bodies understand the retail landscape and identify viable, sustainable opportunities that can unlock new care pathways within communities.

For retail destinations and landlords, the benefits are clear. NHS uses offer an opportunity for long-term occupation of empty units, generates local employment, increases footfall and contributes to the retention of retail staff.

Anecdotal evidence from existing sites suggests that patients often make pre appointment visits to familiarise themselves with the route and facilities. Patients also typically attend with a companion, and many combine appointments with retail purchases. In larger centres seeing more than 100,000 patients per year, this translates into meaningful additional spend and activates the destination throughout the day. For older or disabled visitors, the combination of multiple transport connections, clear wayfinding and parking makes the experience markedly less intimidating than traditional hospitals.

Building on the ambitions of the NHS 10 Year Plan to shift appropriate acute activity into community settings, a stronger community estate can relieve pressure on hospital sites and support better patient access. This shift also enables the NHS to release or repurpose ageing estate that no longer meets modern service needs. With capital reforms allowing providers to retain and reinvest surpluses, the system is positioned for a significant structural change in how the NHS estate is planned, optimised and sustainably funded over the next decade.

Ultimately, integrating NHS services into retail destinations meets economic, social and health objectives. It supports regeneration, improves patient experience, and creates stable long term investment opportunities, an increasingly important factor for pension funds and other institutional owners. Interest in the model is growing rapidly.

The next challenge is converting this enthusiasm into delivery and ensuring that every opportunity is evaluated with the full benefit of both health sector insight and retail sector expertise.