Demolition works have begun at Wellington Street site in Peterborough ahead of construction of a new Community Diagnostic Centre.
“The site will remain under wraps to prevent the dust and noise disturbance, and construction work will only take place during restricted daytime hours to reduce inconvenience to local residents,” says a spokesperson for the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust.
Demolition should be complete within three weeks.
There will be no change to access routes on the road during the demolition works and further communication with the surrounding community will take place later this year.
The new centre is much needed to help further improve the delivery of diagnostic testing and reduce patient waiting times for clinical investigation. It will be staffed and run by North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs Peterborough City Hospital.
“The Community Diagnostic Centre is of huge benefit to our local communities,” says Hannah Coffey, chief executive.
“We know that waiting times for tests to help diagnose a condition are longer than we want them to be, and this can create additional anguish as well as a delay in treatment.
The CDC will help us reduce waiting times and give patients a better experience, ensuring they receive results quicker. We are very excited to see this project evolve.”
The CDC will offer CT, MRI, and DEXA scanning, as well as phlebotomy services and a direct link to the pathology services that are run at Peterborough City Hospital.
Work has been ongoing for some months to work out the demand for these diagnostic services in the city and ensure that the new facility can meet the growing needs of an expanding population.
Dr Gary Howsam, chief clinical improvement officer at NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, said: “We are delighted that work is about to start on the new Community Diagnostic Centre in Peterborough.
“Once open, the centre will provide local people with the opportunity to access much-needed diagnostic tests closer to home, giving them more choice about where and when they have their tests.”
It’s hoped that construction will start early next year, with the centre due to open in late 2025.
The diagnostics centre is being built on the former City Health Clinic which closed in 2017.
Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes is delighted that the centre is going ahead and says it is “incredibly important to fixing the NHS and serving patients in Peterborough”.
