Darwin Group has started work on the modern state-of-the-art, stand-alone Yeovil Diagnostic Centre adjacent to Yeovil District Hospital.
The Centre is expected to open in late 2024.
This follows Prime reaching financial close on the project in February this year.
Yeovil Diagnostic Centre build
The healthcare construction specialist will use offsite modular construction methods that will speed up the delivery of the project up to 60% faster than traditional methods of construction.
Offsite modular construction methods will also reduce waste by 90% compared to traditional methods of construction, making it one of the most efficient and sustainable options in the marketplace.
The Centre is expected to open in late 2024
The facility is expected to take shape quickly. Already in late April, 73 modules were delivered and installed overnight over eight days, transforming the estate at pace whilst minimising disruption to the busy active hospital site.
Darwin Group closely collaborated with Prime, a property developers and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s strategic estates partner, to design and develop this project.
The partners along with the Trust and InHealth are aiming to produce a high-performing, sustainable, low-energy new build.
Yeovil Diagnostic Centre has been meticulously designed to achieve net zero embodied carbon. It is projected to yield an impressive biodiversity net gain of 267%.
Darwin Group Healthcare Director Alan Davidson, said: “We’re proud to be working for Prime as partners to design and construct the diagnostic centre at Yeovil Hospital for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.”
The partners along with the Trust and InHealth are aiming to produce a high-performing, sustainable, low-energy new build
Leighton Chumbley, Chief Executive at Prime, said: “Prime has been proud to work in partnership with Yeovil District Hospital since 2014 and more recently with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.”
“Patient and staff experience is at the forefront of the work we do, Yeovil Diagnostic Centre will not only enhance health outcomes in the region, but also enrich the local area by being a model of sustainable construction, with a net zero embodied carbon impact and biodiversity net gain,” Chumbley concluded.
Radiology and Endoscopy at Yeovil Diagnostic Centre
The Centre will house a brand new state-of-the-art endoscopy unit.
The new unit aims to help relieve the pressure on the busy endoscopy unit in the main part of Yeovil District Hospital, so it can prioritise emergencies.
The Trust also anticipates that the new unity will greatly reduce waiting times for endoscopy.
The Yeovil Community Diagnostic Centre will also include:
- Audiology unit
- Cardio diagnostic centre
- Imaging suite for MRI and CT scans
- Clinic rooms
- Conference room for clinical meetings
The healthcare construction specialist will use offsite modular construction methods
Mr Jonathan Ockrim, one of our consultant colorectal surgeons and clinical lead for the Yeovil Community Diagnostic Centre, said: “This new community diagnostic centre (CDC) is the latest in a number of high-profile building projects that are happening at Yeovil District Hospital at the moment, which is fantastic to see.”
“In fact, I’ve worked at the hospital for 21 years and have never seen such an incredible investment in new buildings and facilities at the hospital, which is giving us much more capacity to care for and treat our patients,” Ockrim concluded.
InHealth, the UK’s largest specialist provider of diagnostic and healthcare solutions, will provide the Centre with radiology and endoscopy services.
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust will provide all other diagnostic and outpatient services.
The Centre will provide over 70,000 diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments a year.
Yeovil Diagnostic Centre has been meticulously designed to achieve net zero embodied carbon
Open seven days a week, the centre will provide radiology, endoscopy, cardiology and audiology diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments.
Patients in Somerset and northwest Dorset will benefit from the centre as the aim is to provide them with quicker diagnostic tests thanks to the additional capacity the centre will provide.
Geoff Searle, Chief Executive Officer of InHealth, said: “We’re delighted to mark the official start of build works for the new Yeovil Diagnostic Centre. When ready, this will be one of five brand new CDCs in the South West, as part of InHealth’s partnership with NHS England in the South West and we’re proud to be working in partnership with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust to provide key clinical services to the local population through this new centre.”
“Across our nationwide network of CDCs, we’ve seen the real difference and positive impact that centres like these can bring for patients, focussed on improving health outcomes, so it’s fantastic to be doing that here in Yeovil,” Searle continued.
“Our mission at InHealth is to make healthcare better and improve access to services like the ones that are going to be delivered here, as well as reduce the time people are waiting for a diagnosis and care, so it really will be a fantastic healthcare facility and something that InHealth is already very proud of and very much looking forward to opening,” Searle concluded.
Community Diagnostic Centres in Somerset
In addition to the upcoming Yeovil Diagnostic Centre, Taunton Diagnostic Centre opened in September 2021.
I’ve worked at the hospital for 21 years and have never seen such an incredible investment in new buildings and facilities at the hospital
Further, two ophthalmology diagnostic centres were also opened—one in Yeovil town centre and the other in the Blackbrook Business Park in Taunton.
Community investigation hubs have also been set up in Somerset’s Primary Care Networks.