Supporting smart health spaces across Lancashire and South Cumbria
The Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) plays a crucial role in aligning health and care services across the region. As one of 42 ICBs nationally (due to be 25), it was formed to replace Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), with a focus on improving patient safety, outcomes and wellbeing.
The Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB supports 1.8 million people and works with four acute hospital trusts, a large mental health trust, approximately 240 GP practices and 41 Primary Care Networks, alongside many other partners. As part of this system-wide approach, digital innovation is at the centre of delivering and maintaining better health and care services.
Digital innovation and carbon reduction goals
Many buildings across Lancashire and South Cumbria are ageing and in need of significant investment. The current maintenance backlog runs into millions of pounds, simply to keep facilities safe and operational. Through our digital innovation work at the ICB, we support estates and facilities teams to modernise buildings and make better use of existing infrastructure.
A key focus for us is helping move towards smart hospitals and health spaces, in line with the NHS 10-year plan to shift from analogue to digital services. Rather than replacing estates, we look at how technology can enhance what already exists and shape how future buildings are designed and operated.
The NHS has also committed to reaching net zero by 2040 and net zero plus by 2045. As hospitals are among the most energy-intensive buildings in the public sector, sustainability is a large focus of our work. By introducing smart technologies, we can understand how buildings are used, where energy is consumed, and where improvements can be made. Using data from smart buildings allows us to reduce emissions, control costs, and improve environments for patients and staff.
Smart innovation that improves estate management
We’re currently delivering a suite of digital transformations across the region, based on Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Some of these smart innovations include:
Energy monitoring clamps that provide detailed insight into electricity usage
Smart water sensors that track temperature and flow for early leak detection and Legionella
Environmental sensors monitoring air quality, temperature and occupancy
Automated cleaning robots in large clinical corridors
Drone technology to enable proactive inspection of buildings
These technologies help estates teams move from reactive maintenance toward a more predictive and preventative approach that not only improves patient safety but also reduces disruption and cost.
Smart spaces at Westmorland General Hospital in South Cumbria
Some of our largest projects focus on creating smart health spaces across both acute and primary care settings, delivered in partnership with Cisco and the Lister Alliance. At Westmorland General Hospital’s outpatient unit, we replaced traditional lighting with smart LED lighting and installed IoT sensors to monitor temperature, air quality and room usage. Using the existing data network, we connected systems and delivered power through Power over Ethernet (PoE).
This gives estates teams complete, centralised visibility using digital dashboards and allows them to make adjustments quickly and safely. It also gives us accurate data on how spaces are actually used, rather than relying on assumptions. We’ve introduced a similar approach at Sedbergh GP Practice, with smart lighting and environmental sensors forming the first phase of the project, and renewable energy is planned for a future phase — building on the digital infrastructure already in place.
Improving energy efficiency through DC microgrids
Power over Ethernet also supports our ambition to create a DC microgrid, aligning with the NHS goal of integrating renewable energy, like solar panels, into buildings. Solar power and battery storage generate power in direct current (DC), while most traditional buildings use alternating current (AC). To prevent inefficient conversions, we deliver DC power directly through the data network, which significantly improves efficiency. Over time, this has the potential to reduce running costs and build sustainable estates from the ground up.
These projects were delivered as Proof of Concept (PoC) schemes, which allow us to test innovative technology in live healthcare environments and understand the realities of how they work before scaling them. And while we inevitably encountered challenges along the way, working collaboratively with clinicians, estates teams, and partners has been the key to resolving these issues. What we learn from these PoCs will shape how we approach future projects across the ecosystem, and enable scalability across the Integrated Care System (ICS) footprint.
Using data to support decision-making
We monitor each site over a three- to six-month period to gather sufficient data on how the smart technology is performing. This data feeds into existing building management systems, giving us clear insight into occupancy levels, environmental conditions, and energy usage.
With accurate clinical, environmental, and sensor data feeding into a core data pool, we enable data scientists to make strategic decisions and explore how digital innovations can support estates teams moving forward.
The future of Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB
What we’re learning through our digital transformation work is already influencing future developments across Lancashire and South Cumbria, including neighbourhood health centres and plans to design two new hospitals in 2035-2039 as part of the New Hospitals Programme.
Ultimately, by embracing digital technology and future-focused thinking, we can implement technical systems that support staff wellbeing, reduce carbon emissions, and ensure NHS buildings are proactive, safe and efficient.