Plans for a brand new scans centre on the grounds of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital have been submitted.
The new 'diagnostic assessment centre' - where patients go for vital scans - would go up on the south-western end of the King’s Lynn hospital site and would aim to be a carbon-neutral facility, with solar panels on the roof.
All of the facilities for patients would be at the ground floor level, including an x-ray room, CT scan room, MRI room and two ultrasound rooms. The upper floor would house the building’s electrics and utilities.
A statement submitted by the QEH’s agent, Bidwells, reads: “The demand for imaging has significantly increased during the Covid-19 pandemic following the pause of many imaging appointments to deal with the immediate threat of the pandemic.
“This has exacerbated the demand stream for diagnostics, particularly for cancer patients.
“Alongside the current need for imaging, it has been projected that demand for such services is set to further increase…”
The new centre would go up on what is currently a car park, but new parking provision would be placed elsewhere to create a net gain in spaces.
Government funding for new the centre was received in 2019 as part of a £69.7m package, which is also planned to pay for similar centres at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) and at Gorleston’s James Paget University Hospital (JPUH).
It is intended for all three to open before March 2024.
At the time of the funding being awarded, QEH chief executive Caroline Shaw said the hospital was “over the moon” with their share, adding: “This centre will make a big difference to our patients in West Norfolk, Fenland and South Lincolnshire, as it will aid rapid diagnosis and assessment of cancerous and non-cancerous diseases.”
The plans have been lodged after permission was successfully granted for a new endoscopy unit elsewhere on the QEH site, due to open later in the spring.
The QEH is still waiting to be told by the government whether it will be one of eight hospitals to receive funding for a new main building, after years of concern about its propped-up roof posing a “direct risk to life”.
Some 470 steel and timber support beams are currently in place across the 42-year-old hospital, to prevent its ceiling from collapsing.
West Norfolk Borough Council will decide whether to grant permission for the QEH’s diagnostics centre by May 19.
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