Trust welcomes approval for revised plans for Nottinghamshire’s first Community Diagnostic Centre

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has welcomed the news that revised plans to build a state-of-the-art Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) at Mansfield Community Hospital were approved last night.

Once built, the new facility will serve as a one-stop shop for patients across Nottinghamshire to access tens of thousands of health checks and tests in a single visit, reducing referral times and enabling patients to receive diagnoses more swiftly.

The plans for the building have been carefully revised to move from a two-storey design to a single-storey design, which has helped to reduce construction costs and make better use of existing space at the Hospital – without reducing the benefits to patients.

The redesign incorporated feedback from clinical colleagues to better meet the needs of local people and the services they will access there, while making more effective use of the existing Mansfield Community Hospital buildings.

The move will ensure that the Trust is spending public money as efficiently as possible, helping to focus more of the budget for the project on providing the vital tests that will eventually be delivered there.

Richard Mills, Chief Financial Officer for Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust, said: “The approval of our planning application for the new CDC at Mansfield Community Hospital is another significant and exciting milestone for our local NHS and the patients we serve.

“With demolition work now complete on the derelict building that has been removed to make way for the new facility, , work to create a permanent home for Nottinghamshire’s first Community Diagnostic Centre is on-track to provide our local communities with modern, efficient healthcare facilities that complement the existing services they can already access across our local NHS.”

Since the project began in October 2023, the Trust has worked to deliver almost 40,000 blood tests from existing NHS sites as part of the Community Diagnostic Centre programme.

They include a range of blood tests, heart scans and ultrasound scans that are already being delivered from a range of sites, including Mansfield Community Hospital, Newark Hospital and the Nottingham Road Clinic in Mansfield.

The Trust’s commitment to sustainability has also played a significant role in shaping the revised design, with the new building to meet high environmental standards.

Importantly, those environmental benefits have been achieved without benefiting the range of services being offered at the Centre.

Dr James Thomas, the Trust’s Acting Deputy Medical Director and its clinical lead for the project, added: "The design of the new building has been drawn-up following extensive consultation with the doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who have been able to design the new Centre to meet the needs of the new services that will be offered there.

“The Centre is due to open in 2025 and will also offer a wide range of diagnostic services - including blood testing, ultrasound, and endoscopy to name just a handful.”

“It will be great to see the positive impact this will have on patient care in the future.”

Mark Dady, managing director of Kier Construction Eastern and Midlands who are working with the Trust to build the new facility, said: "We are delighted to be working with Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust to create a modern community diagnostics centre that will benefit the community for decades to come.

“Using our expertise in creating modern healthcare facilities, we look forward to building a centre that makes the testing process more efficient for patients and staff alike." 

The Mansfield Community Hospital site, located on Stockwell Gate, has a rich history dating back to its days as the Mansfield Union Workhouse. The current development aims to preserve this heritage while providing a modern healthcare facility.

The revised planning application was unanimously approved by Mansfield District Council’s Planning Committee on Monday 2 September, subject to a ‘Section 106’ agreement being implemented to secure a £18,400 contribution towards improvements to local bus stop infrastructure, a proposal to secure a 10% net gain of biodiversity in the area and a contribution towards local travel plan monitoring.

For more information about the planning application, the project, or the services that will be provided, please visit the CDC website at www.sfh-tr.nhs.uk/cdc.