A new community diagnostic centre (CDC) has been completed by MTX at Clatterbridge Hospital on Merseyside using modern methods of construction to deliver the project faster, greener, safer and more cost effectively.
The 450m² single storey Wirral Diagnostics Centre is equipped with both MRI and CT scanners alongside facilities to further enhance privacy and comfort for patients having scans, and is linked to an existing building on the hospital site.
The advanced software allows the MRI equipment to produce high quality scan images at a fast speed, to improve detection of conditions such as prostate cancer. As well as scanning for different types of cancers, diagnostics for a wide range of conditions will be carried out at the state-of-the art facility run by Wirral University Teaching Hospital.
Wirral Diagnostics Centre is the first of a number of CDCs MTX is contracted to deliver for UK health trusts.
It was constructed employing 12 structural sections factory-built off site and delivered for assembly with walls already in place. Once installed onsite ceilings and concrete screed floors were added in preparation for fit out with the specialist scanning equipment and mechanical and electrical systems. A significant quantity of the services equipment was delivered in factory-built modular sections for assembly on site, in line with the Government’s Construction Playbook and drive for Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA).
The nature of the building required specialist features which include a ‘Faraday cage’ to enclose the MRI scanner room to avoid electromagnetic interference, and radiation shielding for the CT scanner area. The building floor was also raised above the external site level to mitigate flood risks.
Mechanical and electrical plant including medical IT switchboards and uninterruptible power systems are located in a separate building but the systems are linked to the main building management controls for the hospital infrastructure. The new CDC also connects to the medical gases system of the main hospital for oxygen supplies.
MTX worked with Gleeds which project managed the new CDC for the Trust and partnered with DAY Architectural for building design and DSSR for M&E design and mechanical ventilation systems.
Wirral Diagnostics Centre is located close to the site of the new multi-million pound elective surgical hub at Clatterbridge Hospital recently completed by MTX for Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
David Hartley, MTX Managing Director commented: “We are delighted that the Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust chose MTX to create the new CDC and provide the additional diagnostic facilities. It continues our long-standing partnership with the Trust which recognises that modern methods of construction can deliver new facilities faster than conventional building techniques while maintaining the highest quality.
“Community Diagnostic Centres are playing a vital role in reducing NHS waiting lists, and MTX has proven expertise in delivering them quickly and cost effectively for heath trusts, which ensures a more rapid return on investment for the Trust, and earlier access to the new facilities for patients.”
Wirral Diagnostics Centre is the second diagnostics centre to be built at the Clatterbridge site. Clatterbridge Diagnostics Centre was set up in July 2021 as a partnership between Wirral University Teaching Hospital and The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and was one of the first diagnostics hubs set up in England to reduce NHS waiting times and increase capacity for early diagnosis.
Since then, more than 100,000 patients have had tests or scans at the centre. In the past ten years the demand for CT scans at the Trust has increased by 65% and the demand for MRI scans has increased by 13%.
