A view over the roofs of the Seacroft Hospital site, where the new CDC is being developed

Work has started on the latest in a series of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) being opened across England.

I&G Construction has moved onto the site at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds with the aim of creating a new hub which will provide a broad range of diagnostic care, such as checks, scans and tests, without patients having to go to the main hospital.

Commissioned by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the work will involve the refurbishment of one of the unoccupied areas of the site, retrofitting it and adding two extensions to make it into a modern healthcare building to house state-of-the-art technology.

Once open, the facility will have the latest equipment to offer MRI and CT scanning, X-rays, and various tests.

A major part of the work will be to improve the thermal efficiency of the old building, upgrading windows and insulation to ensure the centre will take less energy to heat and cool, and reducing its overall carbon footprint, adopting a retrofit programme of works that will protect the facility and those that use the building for many years to come.

I&G managing director, Christopher Carline, said: “Working in historic buildings is really rewarding, as through sensitive refurbishment we can bring them back to life, making them more sustainable and fit for the demands of modern healthcare for decades to come.

“Working in the hospital grounds is a challenge, though, as there are already functioning medical facilities on the site and we need to carefully plan our work to avoid disrupting patients and staff.”

A spokesman for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust added: “CDCs will improve access and reduce delays for people who need an investigative test.

“The ambition for these new settings is to separate emergency and urgent diagnostics delivered within hospital settings from planned tests by delivering these closer to people’s homes in community ‘one-stop-shop’ settings.

“The new CDC will enable us to strengthen and expand the delivery of diagnostic services at Seacroft Hospital, which already hosts a number of outpatient services in a community setting.

“The CDC will complement the existing services and benefit from the well-established public transport routes at Seacroft Hospital.”

The new CDC is one of four being opened across West Yorkshire, with the others planned for Eccleshill, Huddersfield, and Wakefield.

Plans are also being developed for further supporting centres in nine other locations.