Building the case for Airedale’s new hospital
Combining deep local insight with national programme expertise to produce a Strategic Outline Case ready for NHP and Treasury approval.
The challenge
In a complex and evolving healthcare environment, the development of NHP Hospital 2.0 Standards, and the announcement of the NHS 10-year plan, Airedale NHS FT are set to deliver a c£1.4b hospital as part of the New Hospital Programme by 2033. Due to the constrained nature of the current hospital site and the absence of any viable alternative sites, the Trust has to manage the delivery of the New Hospital on its existing site whilst ensuring minimal disruption to clinical services. Alongside the delivery of the Strategic Outline Case, a number of critical enabling work business cases are required to ensure the programme stays on track through the OBC, FBC, and construction stages.
The Securing the Future Programme sets out to deliver a new, modern, digitally intelligent, fit-for-purpose estate to eradicate all RAAC infrastructure risks whilst being strongly aligned with the NHS 10-year Plan. Our aim was to prepare a robust, comprehensive Strategic Outline Case for the New Hospital, which clearly sets out the strategic vision, options, intricacies, and viable delivery options for a truly transformational scheme.
Our approach
Archus were selected for our deep understanding of Airedale, its community, and the Trust’s long‑term strategic priorities. We brought extensive business case and healthcare expertise, having already supported the Trust on projects including healthcare planning for the new hospital, the Target Operating Model, and the Community Estate Strategy.
We were commissioned to deliver a comprehensive Strategic Outline Case (SOC) aligned to:
- New Hospital Programme (NHP) requirements
- NHSE/DHSC standards
- HMT Green Book guidance.
Archus led the Commercial and Management cases, working alongside KPMG, who developed the remaining SOC components. We also provided specialist advisory input across the Strategic Case and the economic options framework.
A key challenge was incorporating the evolving NHP H2.0 products, released mid‑development and subject to strict governance and confidentiality controls. Working closely with the Architectural‑Led Design Team (ALDT) and wider partners, we integrated these requirements seamlessly, without modification, into the developing SOC.
The resulting programme embedded H2.0 content directly into the SOC, ensuring alignment across design, planning, and programme chapters. Archus delivered a fully compliant SOC, approved by the Trust Board and scheduled for NHP Investment Committee consideration in April 2026, ahead of further approval at the Joint Investment Committee.
The impact
We delivered a fully compliant Strategic Outline Case approved by Trust Board. This meant that the client was able to submit the SOC in line with the agreed submission date with NHP, with minimal comments during the NHP assurance process.
Martin leads Archus’ delivery of health care planning and business case support to the Trust’s new hospital Programme team. He and his team have hugely helped the Programme to devise our community and ‘left shift’ estate strategy. His consideration of wider NHS infrastructure aims and transformation of services into neighbourhood care settings has enabled us to make great strides
Alastair Stewart, Programme Director, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust (part of the NHP)
