A new community diagnostic centre is set to open in West Sussex as part of a government commitment to launch 40 waiting list-busting services across the country.

Morgan Sindall Construction has completion development work at Shoreham’s Southlands Hospital for University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UHSussex).   

As part of the project, several pieces of specialist equipment have been installed in the building, including an MRI scanner, CT scanner, two X-ray machines, and a chest X-ray machine.  

Procured through the Pagabo framework, Morgan Sindall has worked alongside Ward Williams Associates and architects, Crowther Associates, to refit and reconfigure underutilised areas of the facility, improving operational efficiency.  

Using Morgan Sindall’s Intelligent Solutions approach, the team designed and installed removable sections of the RF Cage walls to the MRI suite to enable access for future replacement and improvement strategies.

This will offer the Trust flexibility for the long-term future, while also minimising disruption to other essential services.  

Neil Cripps, clinical director for community diagnostic centres in West Sussex, said: “The Community Diagnostic Centre provides the perfect training environment, which will promote our recruitment and retention of the best people.

“Having a dedicated, purpose-built unit will ensure we can deliver the best quality service to our patients. 

“Now we have the centre in operation, we will be working with our primary care colleagues to develop suitable direct access pathways to enable our patients to access the right care at the right time.” 

Jemma Deane, community diagnostic centre operational manager at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, added: “The centre will be able to deliver diagnostics to over 45,000 patients in the first year, which will support cancer pathways, allowing earlier access away from the acute sites.

“The pathway development work will aim to speed up the time from referral to a working diagnosis, which will also increase patient reassurance when they can be quickly stepped down from a query cancer pathway.”