HSMA update

Mark Kildea, chief executive of The Howard de Walden Estate, on ensuring that the Harley Street Medical Area continues to play a leading role in the future of the UK healthcare sector

The Howard de Walden Estate comprises 92 acres of Marylebone, central London which contains a vibrant neighbourhood of healthcare, residential, offices, retail and leisure, right in the heart of the city. With Harley Street, one of the most prestigious healthcare addresses in the world, at its heart, healthcare has always played an important role on the estate. This heritage is extremely important to us, but as with everything, healthcare moves on. Technology, for example, is having a significant impact. Over the past 10 to 20 years, The Howard de Walden Estate has continually studied this changing landscape to make sure that the area remains relevant and is recognised as a leader in the world of healthcare.

This is why in October 2022 we held the latest in a series of conferences under the chairmanship of the Rt Hon Professor Lord Kakkar KBE, PC. Entitled London: A Global Hub for Life Sciences, it drew together important participants from healthcare, life sciences, business, property and law to discuss opportunities that exist for London to cement itself as an established location in the global life sciences arena, and the role the Harley Street Medical Area (HSMA) can play in this development.

Our philosophy at Howard de Walden is to stay relevant and purposeful, and while this requires that we recognise the area’s strengths, we also need to avoid being dominated by one use of our buildings. That’s why it’s important to have residents, shops, restaurants and offices, to create a vibrant community. Heritage is extremely important to us, but as with everything, healthcare moves on. Technology is having a significant impact. Over the past 10 to 20 years, The Howard de Walden Estate has continually studied this changing landscape to make sure that the area remains relevant.

Alongside the wonderful environment, one of the most important characteristics of the HSMA is the presence here of a high-quality skills cluster, something we are always looking to support.

What we want for Marylebone and our estate is forthis to be a great place to go for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and go out for the evening. But we also want it to be a great place to work and a great place to get healthcare services and treatments.

Healthcare takes place in buildings filled with expensive equipment and people in surgical gowns. It’s all rather clinical. The HSMA aims for something more welcoming. Key to this is how we refurbish and manage our buildings. We want to make sure they are purposeful for the 21st century and beyond, while working with their extraordinary architectural heritage.

Today, people are in hospital for very short periods of time. An increasing trend is for patients to pop in for a procedure and be discharged on that same day. This has implications for the type of buildings healthcare operators need. Hospitals designed around the traditional longer stays have lot of beds, but will they need all those beds in the future? How do you transform a hospital of today to be the hospital of tomorrow?

Alongside the wonderful environment, one of the most important characteristics of the HSMA is the presence here of a high-quality skills cluster, something we are always looking to support. We have nursing skills, consultant skills, general practice skills and the ancillary services that support healthcare. HSMA occupiers benefit from the availability of labour as well as the attractiveness of the area. Medics like to talk to medics, they like to mix together socially as well as professionally. We have a mature healthcare infrastructure in the HSMA that you don’t find in any other part of London. It’s also a name and brand that is well known and trusted around the world. If people want to see the best in a particular field, they head to Harley Street because that’s often where the best consultants are found.

A further consideration is the explosion of interest in life sciences in the UK and the greater conduct of research. In Harley Street, this is likely to intensify with the arrival of new entrants such as Mayo Clinic Healthcare, which build their success on the three shields: medicine, education and research. While several organisations such as the Sarah Cannon Institute and Re:Cognition Health actively run clinical trials in the HSMA, we think that the independent healthcare sector would benefit from more research. Having access to great local research facilities is a real advantage and we are working on ways to accommodate more research on our estate and build on the connection between healthcare and life sciences.

While the October conference identified several real challenges facing healthcare in the UK, there was a genuine optimism that with the right leadership and commitment those challenges can be met. We firmly believe that the HSMA can play a leading role in meeting these challenges.

The Howard de Walden Estate 23 Queen Anne Street London W1G 9DL 020 7580 3163 hdwe.co.uk