Commissioned by The NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System the new centre will provide the hospital with the capacity to diagnose disease quicker, particularly cancer, and in turn reduce NHS waiting lists which have only grown since the Covid-19 pandemic. The building has been designed by LSI Architects and is being delivered by Main Contractor RG Carter.
The James Paget University Hospital is one of Norfolk’s three acute hospital sites to benefit from a new diagnostic centre, the other two being Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) and Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Kings Lynn. The £85.9M invested makes this the largest capital investment from the Department of Health and Social Care that the region has seen for over 20 years.
LSI Architects is also responsible for the design of the new diagnostic centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital site, with work set to begin on this site soon.
Each centre is set to be equipped with state-of-the-art imaging equipment, including MRI and CT scanners, x-rays and ultrasound machines. Once open the centres will be set to deliver more than 281,000 tests, scans, and checks to patients in Norfolk.
The functional content of both centres is similar, and so each of the centres will be two storey buildings with the ground floor of each dedicated to scanning equipment and associated facilities. The first floor of each is dedicated to the extensive mechanical requirements of a DC.
Both buildings are to be clad in a buff brick and feature a covered entrance area and brick colonnade over two-stories, as well as a recessed brick reveal detail. The massing steps back at the top story which accommodates the smaller plantroom area which makes the DC building primarily single storey in appearance, so as to be in keeping with the context of the two hospital sites.
Both buildings have been designed to achieve Net Zero Carbon in operation and BREEAM Excellent, supporting the local and national estates strategies aspirations of becoming net zero carbon.
The new centre at the James Paget Hospital site is set open next summer, and will have a positive impact on cancer outcomes, as well as improved patient experience through earlier treatment.
