By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Consultants will be hired at a cost of £100,000 to conduct “due diligence” checks on plans for an NHS health centre on the site of the former Broadmarsh Centre.
The state-of-the-art medical facility, offering MRI, CT, X-rays and ultrasound scans, will be built in the centre of Nottingham, subject to planning approval.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) will be staffing the new Community Diagnostic Centre, which aims to help reduce waiting lists, diagnose conditions earlier and free up space in hospitals.
It will be located on the site of the half-demolished Broadmarsh shopping centre, where a park called the ‘Green Heart’ is currently being build as part of plans to transform the area.
NUH will lease the new building from Nottingham City Council once it has been built at a cost of £25 million.
The authority now says it has allocated up to £100,000 to appoint external consultants to conduct “due diligence and technical checks” on the plans.
Delegated decision documents say NUH has agreed to contribute the full amount to meet the costs.
Another £90,000 had already been approved for similar work.
“Whilst it is the Trust’s responsibility to design the new building and ensure these issues are addressed, the council’s team need to carefully monitor the Trust’s developing design proposals to identify wherever possible any issues with the developing design documents,” the documents say.
“The RIBA Stage 3 design has been issued by the Trust which amounts to more than 180 documents.
“These documents need to be reviewed by a project manager, civil and
structural engineer, M&E engineer and the council’s master planners, to ensure there are no issues.
“This is a significant piece of work to execute in a short period of time, and so external consultant support (project manager and design team) are required.”
Checks must also be done on the leasing of the site, so as to ensure it does not compromise the delivery of the future master plan proposals.
Funding is coming from the Department for Health and Social Care, which announced money for 13 new Community Diagnostic Centres, including one in Mansfield.
The centre will provide more than 140,000 appointments each year, and once it is at full capacity it will employ 135 staff including consultant radiologists, radiographers, imaging assistants, physiologists and administrators.
Mark Simmonds, deputy medical director for Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, said in February: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the people of Nottingham and the NHS as whole to be part of the regeneration of this area.
“Many people have called Broadmarsh an eyesore in the past. We will reuse of some existing buildings in Lister Gate that look out onto the Broadmarsh site. It will be unrecognisable.
“Delays to diagnostics are too long and this marks an opportunity to deliver greater capacity in an accessible place.
“People from the whole of Nottingham can benefit without coming to constrained hospital sites.
“This will be a part of the NHS on your high street. We are looking forward to getting boots on the ground.”
