How hilo.work Supports the NHS Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26
The NHS Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) Plan for 2025/26 lays out an ambitious and essential roadmap for improving patient flow, reducing wait times, and delivering more responsive care—especially during peak winter periods. With its emphasis on flexibility, community-based solutions, and dignity in care, the plan creates a real opportunity for adaptable infrastructure to play a vital role.
That’s where hilo.work comes in.
Designed for Flexibility and Care
Developed by AgileAcoustics, hilo.work is a modular, height-adjustable acoustic screen system designed to create flexible zones quickly and easily. Whether it’s a private triage bay, a sensory-friendly consultation space, or a temporary discharge lounge, hilo.work is built to respond to real-world clinical needs without the cost or delay of traditional construction.
1. Reducing Corridor Care and Improving Flow
One of the plan’s most urgent goals is to eliminate the unacceptable rise in 12-hour corridor waits. hilo.work can support hospitals by:
Creating private, dignified bays within existing ward space or waiting areas
Enhancing triage environments for faster, more discreet assessments
Offering acoustically controlled zones for consultations and sensitive discussions
The modular design means these zones can be reconfigured as demand shifts—helping trusts manage flow more effectively while improving the patient experience.
2. Supporting Mental Health Crisis Response
Mental health teams are central to the 2025/26 UEC strategy, yet appropriate spaces are still in short supply. hilo.work helps by enabling:
Rapid deployment of calming, enclosed spaces for individuals in crisis
Adaptable environments suitable for neurodivergent patients or those experiencing sensory overload
Safe, private areas for assessments—whether in A&E or dedicated crisis centres
3. Enabling Community-Based Urgent Care
The shift from hospital to community care is a cornerstone of the plan, with neighbourhood health services, urgent community response teams, and virtual wards all playing a growing role. hilo.work can help these services by:
Providing on-demand treatment areas in community health hubs or care homes
Supporting discharge-to-assess models by creating temporary assessment or consultation areas
Enabling pop-up workspaces for multidisciplinary neighbourhood teams
4. Enhancing UTCs and Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC)
With £250 million committed to expanding UTCs and SDEC centres, there’s growing pressure on trusts to find quick, flexible space solutions. hilo.work is ideal for:
Creating temporary SDEC bays or consultation booths
Repurposing underused areas into multi-use treatment zones
Avoiding costly or time-consuming building works by offering movable, reconfigurable infrastructure
5. Designed for Rapid Reconfiguration
The UEC Plan also emphasises the need for data-driven operational agility. hilo.work aligns perfectly:
It allows internal FM teams to reconfigure zones in real time, without disruption
It responds to capacity changes, surge planning, or digital triage insight
It’s part of a broader shift towards agile, patient-centred NHS infrastructure
A Scalable, Inclusive Solution
With inclusion and accessibility also high on the NHS agenda, hilo.work offers optional configurations for wheelchair access, neurodiversity-friendly spaces, and sensory modulation—all of which can support the NHS’s wider goals for equitable care.
In summary, hilo.work isn’t just an acoustic screen system—it’s a flexible tool that meets the NHS where it is today, helping clinicians deliver better, faster, more dignified care where and when it’s needed most.
If you're working in urgent and emergency care or supporting your Trust’s winter planning, get in touch to see how hilo.work could help transform your space.
👉 Learn more at www.agileacoustics.co.uk/hilowork