A Sidara-sponsored report will soon set out key proposals for bringing community-based healthcare onto the UK’s high streets, both to improve public health and act as a catalyst for regeneration.

Chaired by Portland Design’s Ibrahim Ibrahim, the Health on the High Street Commission by think tank Radix Big Tent will launch in May 2026 to coincide with the UK’s pre-eminent annual real estate forum, UKREiiF.

The commission will explore how neighborhood health hubs, alongside a range of other public and private health services, could prove key to the regeneration of high streets and town centers across the United Kingdom. The cross-sector group aims to identify practical steps to unblock the planning, financial and cultural barriers to high street regeneration through health.

Alongside representatives from Currie & Brown, commissioners include crossbench peer Lord Andrew Mawson, the driving force behind the Bromley-by-Bow Health Partnership, and Michael Brown, the chief architect of the Barnsley Health Hub, which has seen outpatient services relocated to the town center Alhambra shopping center.

The commission plans to report within twelve months. In addition to conducting desk-based and original research, commissioning parties are keen to gather evidence and learn from successful examples of delivering health on the high street from across the country.

Announcing the commission’s launch, Radix Big Tent Chief Executive, Ben Rich, says:
“There is widespread political agreement that putting health services at the heart of communities is a good idea. And yet, despite this consensus, progress is glacial.

“Why? Because the system designed to deliver this is stuck in neutral. Speaking with senior leaders from the NHS and private health providers, local government, private investment and regeneration, what becomes clear is that there is not a lack of ambition, but a wall of institutional and systemic inertia that prevents change. The purpose of this commission is to identify and produce policies to remove the friction points that stall delivery.”

Professor Ibrahim Ibrahim, Managing Director at Portland Design, added:
“The focus of the commission is less about the details of the healthcare provision and more about its halo effect, and how it can drive social and commercial value in our high streets and shopping centers.”