Healthcare Estates 2025: What Locking Innovations Mean for Safer Environments

The Healthcare Estates exhibition is always a key moment in the calendar for anyone involved in designing, managing, and supplying safe healthcare facilities. The 2025 event, held at Manchester Central, brought together estates teams, designers, specifiers, and product manufacturers to explore the theme “Prevention is Better than Cure.”

While much of the focus was on buildings, energy systems, and digital health solutions, there was a clear thread running through the conversations: the importance of small details in delivering safe, reliable, and cost-effective healthcare environments. Among those details, locking mechanisms took centre stage in a way they rarely have before.

This blog reflects on the innovations showcased at Healthcare Estates 2025, highlights the growing importance of locking hardware in healthcare design, and looks ahead to what estates teams can expect next.

Why Locking Solutions are Now in the Spotlight

Traditionally, locks have been treated as routine hardware, chosen quickly from standard catalogues with little consideration for the unique demands of healthcare. But in 2025, conversations made clear that approach is no longer enough.

Healthcare environments face specific challenges that set them apart from other sectors:

• Tampering and security risks in patient-accessible areas, from IPS panels to access hatches.
• Infection control requirements that demand smooth, wipe-clean finishes on all hardware.
• Safety expectations in mental health and custodial healthcare settings, where ligature resistance is essential.
• Cost and downtime pressures that require solutions to be easy to install, retrofit, and maintain.

The message from this year’s event was simple: the humble lock can no longer be overlooked.

Key Innovations Highlighted at Healthcare Estates 2025

1. Flat-surfaced, hygienic lock designs
   Locks with recessed inserts and crevices were a recurring concern. New flat-surfaced locks designed for wipe-clean maintenance were widely discussed as a step forward for infection prevention strategies.
2. Tamper-resistant mechanisms
   Locks designed to reduce the opportunities for manipulation with everyday tools are increasingly being prioritised, especially for products located in patient-facing or publicly accessible areas.
3. Retrofittable solutions
   With budgets tight, estates teams are prioritising upgrades that can be delivered quickly and affordably. Locks designed to fit the same footprint as traditional cam locks offer a way to strengthen security without replacing panels or furniture.
4. Visual engagement indicators
   At-a-glance security checks, showing whether a lock is engaged or disengaged, are gaining interest as estates teams look to improve efficiency and reduce human error during inspections.

Looking Ahead: Future Trends for Locking in Healthcare

The 2025 show didn’t just highlight the present, it set the stage for what’s next. Some of the key trends to watch include:

• Standardisation of tamper-resistant locks in NHS procurement frameworks, as awareness grows of the risks posed by legacy designs.
• Integration with broader infection control strategies, where every component, including hardware, is scrutinised for hygiene performance.
• Greater emphasis on retrofit programmes, as hospitals look to extend the life of existing estates without compromising safety.
• Expansion of ligature-resistant locking solutions, reflecting the crossover between general healthcare and secure mental health environments.

As healthcare estates evolve, locking mechanisms will increasingly be seen as frontline components of safety, not just background hardware.

Small Components, Big Difference

Healthcare Estates 2025 reinforced an important point: in secure healthcare design, even the smallest details matter. Locks may be simple in form, but they play a critical role in hygiene, patient safety, and operational resilience.

Whether you’re designing new facilities or managing existing estates, locking mechanisms deserve the same attention as any other safety-critical component. Retrofittable, tamper-resistant, and hygienic locks are already shaping the future of safer healthcare environments.

📞 Call us: 01952 890158
📧 Email: sales@contoursecure.co.uk
🌐 Or visit: www.contoursecure.co.uk to request a sample or discuss how locking innovations could strengthen your next project.