North Staffs Hospitals Project

United Kingdom

The North Staffordshire Hospitals £307m PFI Partnership brings together the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM), Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT), Healthcare Support (North Staffs) Ltd (Project Co), Sodexo Health & Care and Siemens Healthineers.

Over time, this partnership has evolved into an exemplar model of strategic public–private collaboration, recognised through participation in the Cabinet Office’s Strategic Supplier Relationship Management (SSRM) Programme, and achieving dual reference-site status for both Sodexo and Siemens. In 2024 the partnership delivered a sector first achievement: removal of market testing requirements for Soft FM, MES and PACS. This unlocked £3.3m service investment, enabled £2.2m new building development, improved patient and staff environments, eliminated a £712k annual UP cost pressure, and strengthened long term financial resilience. A strong ‘patient first’ and ‘one-team approach’ is evidenced in the results of the Patient Led Assessment of the Care Environment (PLACE), which consistently exceed national averages, operational performance remains high, and cultural, social, and workforce initiatives such as Iftar celebrations, diverse cultural and heritage events, and the life changing Project SEARCH internship programme, highlights the partnership’s maturity and values and its reach way beyond the walls of the hospitals it serves. This long standing collaboration has delivered sustained performance, meaningful social impact, exceptional innovation, and exemplary governance, demonstrating the very best of what PPPs can achieve. We have chosen the PPP awards as an opportunity to showcase our work which we believe aligns strongly to the Best Operational Project in PPP Award Criteria