News
Cascade: giving NHS estates teams clarity & control
Our tool cuts through complexity to focus investment where it can make the biggest difference.
Every day, NHS estates managers make high-stakes decisions that affect the safety of patients, staff and hospital services.
They may be dealing with a leaking roof, ageing electrical systems, unreliable heating or buildings that are becoming harder and more expensive to maintain. The list of problems is often long, the risks are real, and the money available to address these issues is almost always limited.
With the NHS estates backlog now estimated at around £16 billion, the scale of the issue nationally is only growing and the urgency, and resulting pressure on estates managers, is only growing.
That is where Cascade comes in.
Developed using our data science expertise to support our engineering expertise, our new data tool underpins a service that helps solve these challenges. It helps NHS trusts turn complex and fragmented estates information into a clear, practical plan. It brings together maintenance backlog data, assesses the level of risk based on the NHS-standard risk approach, considers the effort and cost involved, and helps teams understand where investment could have the greatest impact.
For an estates manager, this means moving from an overwhelming list of problems to a prioritised programme of work. Instead of relying on spreadsheets, incomplete information or difficult judgement calls, they can see which issues present the greatest risk, which projects can be grouped together and how limited budgets can be used more effectively.
In practical terms, Cascade helps trusts get the best possible value from every pound they spend. It also helps them reduce risks over time, particularly those that could affect patient safety or the operation of essential hospital services.
The tool can also test different scenarios. When budgets change or new risks emerge, estates teams can quickly understand how their plans may need to adapt. This gives them stronger evidence when explaining priorities to trust leaders, boards and funding bodies.
We are now using Cascade on projects with multiple NHS trusts across the UK, applying data science to a real and urgent problem: helping estates teams make better decisions, reduce risk and protect the environments in which patients receive care.
Get in touch to discuss: JessBarton@hoarelea.com