New plans unveiled for Community Diagnostics Centre in Peterborough

Detailed plans for a community diagnostics centre in Peterborough have been unveiled.

Health chiefs have submitted a full planning application for the centre which is to be built on a site in Wellington Street, Eastgate.

It will replace the disused City Health Clinic,which has already been demolished to make way for the diagnostics centre and the site fenced off ahead of redevelopment.

Plans submitted to Peterborough City Council by the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust show the building will be a part two storey and part three-storey building.

There will be new equipment space at roof level, landscaping, a drop off bay, and four parking spaces and 16 bicycle parking spaces.

It will contain floorspace of 1,790 square metres and there will be an ambulance drop off point to the north of the site.

A document from PHD Architects, which has been submitted with the planning application, states that the services will fall into five main categories, which are imaging, endoscopy, physiology, pathology and genomics.

It adds that there has been a growth in the need for diagnostics since the Covid-19 pandemic and that at the same time the health scare has dictated how the centre should be arranged.

And it states: “After Covid, there has been an increase in demand for diagnostics services.

"With waiting lists increasing, and the NHS becoming more and more under pressure this has resulted in the review of creating a community diagnostics centre, that delivers diagnostic tests within the community at a much faster rate than a typical hospital.

"Designing for a future pandemic must be taken into consideration in new healthcare facilities.

"Key design consideration is infection control and reducing contact with patients who have an illness that can be spread.”

The following describes the clinical and non-clinical areas to be located at the new centre:

• Main Entrance Zone: Public entrance to the building from Wellington Street for which visiting traffic will enter and leave through a connected waiting area.
• Imaging: Access from the main entrance for Dexa, CT However, MRI. However, an alternative route adjacent on St John’s Street will act as the main public route to the MRI facility.
• Cardio-Respiratory: This will be on the first floor with access via a main stairwell and lift from the ground floor.
• Pathology services: Co-located with cardio-respiratory. Provides NPT facilities and phlebotomy.
• Staff/Welfare services: This is a requirement for staff offices, staff change, staff rest to be co-located with its own staff circulation route. These support spaces must provide access away from the clinical and patient facing areas.
• Building Services/Management: A distinct zone will be required and have its own access into the clinical block.

The health trust says the centre, if it secures planning approval, should be open later this year.

A trust spokesperson has previously explained why a new building is needed.

She said: “Due to its age and the work required to meet modern healthcare standards, the works to refurbish and extend the existing building costs the same as knocking it down and building a new purpose-built facility which will also adhere to our net zero carbon requirements.”