Work begins on community diagnostic centre for Stortford, Sawbridgeworth and Stansted patients
Work on a £14.5m community diagnostic centre (CDC) in Epping, which will test patients from Bishop’s Stortford, Sawbridgeworth and Stansted, begins this month.
The hub facility at St Margaret’s Hospital is set to open in a year to serve a core catchment area of about 350,000 people in West Essex and East Hertfordshire.
Hertford and Stortford’s former MP, Conservative Julie Marson, had claimed that the area’s CDC was in Bishop’s Stortford – but the Herts and Essex Hospital operates as a supplementary spoke.
Under the previous, Conservative Government, the Department for Health and Social Care claimed CDCs at St Margaret’s and Herts and Essex were already operational because “both the department and NHS England have been consistent in counting CDCs as open when they are using national CDC revenue to fund additional diagnostic activity”.
That definition included “temporary facilities at or near the final location”.
At Epping this week, contractor Morgan Sindall Construction has begun work to establish the site boundary and erect hoarding.
Once the building is ready, there will be extended opening times and additional equipment to support the current additional capacity provided for MRI scans, X-rays and non-obstetric (non-pregnancy) ultrasounds.
The new diagnostic tools will include two additional computerised tomography (CT) scanners, new ultrasound, cardiology and respiratory equipment and a relocated MRI scanner.
There will be extended hours for X-rays and more phlebotomists to be recruited – increasing the number of blood tests carried out.
Michael Meredith, director of strategy and estates at the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT), said: “We are excited for construction to begin on our CDC at St Margaret’s Hospital and are looking forward to our vision taking shape in the coming months.
“The CDC will enhance patient experience by enabling our patients to be seen more quickly and closer to their homes, providing modern, integrated, outstanding healthcare to support our community.”
Ryan Liversage, area director for Morgan Sindall Construction in Essex, said: “We’re delighted to be getting started on site at the CDC at St Margaret’s Hospital as this is a key milestone in the creation of a facility that will bring a wide range of vital healthcare benefits to the local area.
“Thanks to a close, collaborative relationship with the PAHT and the ProCure 23 (P23) procurement framework, we’ve developed a design and construction process tailored to the needs of the hospital’s staff and the community.”
Christopher Philbedge, estates strategy lead at NHS Property Services, said: “We are excited to see works commence at the CDC at St Margaret’s Hospital, Epping. It brings us great pride to be able to support PAHT in providing the community with the excellent healthcare they need by optimising and rationalising their estate.”
As part of the CDC programme, services provided at Herts and Essex Hospital in Haymeads Lane include extended hours for ultrasound, X-rays and audiology.
