Fewer Keys, Lower Costs: The Benefits of Standardising Locking Systems

Every NHS Estates and Facilities team faces the same challenge: maintaining safety and compliance within tight operational budgets. From reactive maintenance to key management, the practical realities of running a healthcare estate are complex and often made harder by one simple problem: inconsistency.

Across many mental health estates, years of upgrades and maintenance cycles have led to multiple lock types, varied key systems, and non-standard fittings. While this patchwork approach evolves naturally over time, it introduces hidden inefficiencies that cost more to manage in the long term.

Contour Secure’s Standardisation Programme is designed to address those inefficiencies head-on, helping estates transition to one tamper-resistant locking system across all enclosures. The result? Fewer keys, faster maintenance, and lower lifetime costs, without compromising safety or compliance.

The Cost of Complexity

A mixed locking environment doesn’t just create confusion; it drains resources.

Every unique lock type requires a separate key, maintenance routine, and set of spare parts. Over time, this leads to:

• Key proliferation: Dozens of key types circulating among estates teams, contractors, and maintenance staff.
• Increased training needs: Staff must understand multiple systems, each with its own access process.
• Higher maintenance costs: Stocking, repairing, and replacing varied lock types increases overhead.
• Greater downtime: Repairs take longer when components and keys differ between areas.

When every door, cover, and panel has its own specification, even routine maintenance becomes unnecessarily complex.

Streamlining Operations Through Standardisation

By adopting one tamper-resistant locking system across your estate, you immediately simplify how maintenance and security teams operate.

With one key system, one specification, and one consistent performance level, Contour Secure helps estates achieve:

• Operational simplicity: Maintenance teams know exactly how to access, service, and secure enclosures across the estate.
• Faster response times: Standard locks reduce the need for key changes or component sourcing.
• Reduced inventory: Only one set of parts and tools is required, cutting procurement and storage costs.
• Improved accountability: One controlled access system limits unauthorised use and simplifies record keeping.

In environments where time and resources are limited, standardisation delivers measurable efficiency gains that quickly offset initial upgrade costs.

Efficiency that Enhances Safety

Operational efficiency isn’t just about saving time; it’s about improving safety.

When maintenance processes are streamlined, teams can respond faster to emerging issues and complete safety-critical repairs without delay.

Contour Secure’s tamper-resistant locking system combines efficiency with protection, offering:

• Flush, anti-ligature design for safety.
• Durable, wipe-clean surfaces for infection control.
• Reliable, uniform operation across all fitted products.

With one system, every part of the estate works the same way, predictable, manageable, and secure.

Proven Value Across Healthcare Estates

Standardisation has already proven its value across healthcare environments. Estates teams report:

• Reduced maintenance workloads thanks to simplified procedures.
• Improved staff confidence from knowing one consistent standard applies throughout.
• Lower replacement costs as durable components last longer under consistent specification.

In other words, standardisation doesn’t just make estates more compliant, it makes them more sustainable.

Conclusion: Streamline for Safety and Savings

Inconsistency creates unnecessary complexity.

By standardising to Contour Secure’s tamper-resistant locking system, NHS Estates teams can simplify operations, save costs, and strengthen safety, all through one proven platform.

Find out how Contour Secure can help you streamline operations and reduce maintenance costs through one simple standardisation programme.

📞 Call us: 01952 890158
📧 Email: sales@contoursecure.co.uk