A steel signing ceremony was held in March to mark the start of work on a new community diagnostic centre (CDC) at Metrocentre in Gateshead.
Robertson Construction North East will create a modern, state-of-the-art environment for patients, carers and staff.
The CDC was designed to create capacity for services that are seeing increased referrals including, imaging, respiratory investigations and cardiac investigations, marking an important step in providing improved access to screening and diagnostic services outside of a hospital setting for the people of Gateshead and Newcastle.
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle Hospitals are partners on this project.
Funding for the centre was announced earlier this year and once opened it will offer 145,000 appointments per year and create 134 jobs.
The CDC was designed to create capacity for services that are seeing increased referrals
Garry Hope, Managing Director, Robertson Construction North East, said: “The new community diagnostic centre is a great example of two NHS Trusts collaborating to meet the needs of the communities they serve through an accessible facility which puts healthcare to the fore.”
“Having worked with both Trusts before on the delivery of successful projects, they can be confident that we will deliver a quality facility that everyone can be proud of,” Hope added.
Ken Bremner MBE, Chair of the North East and North Cumbria Provider Collaborative, said: “The new Metrocentre Community Diagnostic Centre will make a huge difference to the residents of Gateshead, Newcastle and beyond.”
Providing more healthcare services within community settings like this is vitally important. It means we will be able to see more patients quickly as we keep our relentless focus on improving waiting times across the region’s NHS,” Bremner concluded.
