SHAPING your capital funding strategy

Last week, the NHS released their capital funding guidance for 2026/27 to 2029/30. 

Following a number of years of working collaboratively with NHS England to create one central estates database for the NHS, SHAPE has been named in the guidance as the tool of choice for the capital allocations process. 

SHAPE will provide the evidence base to ensure capital funding is used strategically, maximising and optimising existing community infrastructure, while creating optimal patient journeys and contributing to neighbourhood health goals. 

To maintain consistency nationally, systems and regions will be expected to present their capital plans in the data mapping tool for consideration by the Capital Allocations Panel, with a justification being required if the tool isn’t used. 

The guidance states that providers must ensure their asset data is recorded on SHAPE, and this must be kept up to date. New schemes must also be recorded on SHAPE, to enable consideration and scrutiny of fit with existing estate. 

SHAPE is a data mapping platform that combines data sets into a simple visualisation, to help decision makers gain a better understanding of place, to support evidence-led business cases. 

Proven at national scale, SHAPE has underpinned key NHS programmes, from mapping COVID-19 vaccination centres, to identifying community diagnostic centre locations and most recently, supporting neighbourhood planning. It has also been used extensively in One Public Estate (OPE) projects, enabling partners to visualise assets, evaluate co-location opportunities, and build robust, shared proposals for land, estate and service efficiencies. 

Parallel, the provider of SHAPE, is a software development company that specialises in digital tools that simplify complex data, to support strategic planning. Parallel delivers tailored versions of SHAPE to support public sector projects. 

Parallel also works alongside sister company Sewell Advisory to bridge the gap between physical infrastructure planning and data and digital capabilities. For more information, or to speak to a member of our team, contact helpdesk@shapeatlas.net. 

Read the Capital Guidance plan on the NHS England website.