PLANS for a new diagnostic centre at Yeovil hospital have been given the green light.

The state-of-the-art facility is set to provide more than 70,000 diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments a year, with work on the site expected to begin in February, before it opens in winter 2024.

Plans for the development have now been approved by Somerset Council.

The NHS said patients in Somerset and north west Dorset will receive quicker diagnostic tests, thanks to the additional capacity the centre will provide.

Open seven days a week, it will provide radiology, endoscopy, cardiology and audiology diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments.

The Yeovil Diagnostic Centre will be the second stand-alone diagnostic centre in Somerset – alongside a facility in Taunton – and is being developed with InHealth, a specialist provider of diagnostic solutions, and Prime, a specialist health and care property developer.

InHealth will provide radiology and endoscopy services, while the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust will provide all other diagnostic and outpatient services.

Prime, the trust’s strategic estates partner, will design and build the centre in partnership with InHealth and the trust.

David Shannon, director of strategy and digital development for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is very exciting news and gives us the go ahead to begin building work in early 2024.

“It will be the second community diagnostic centre in Somerset. The Taunton Diagnostic Centre opened in September 2021 and has had a dramatic effect on waiting times for planned diagnostic tests.

“Quick access to diagnostic tests is essential for providing good timely care and this new community diagnostic centre will give patients, particularly in the east of Somerset and west Dorset, quicker access to diagnostic tests that inform their diagnoses and treatment.”

Dr Cen Thomas, a consultant radiologist at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Rapid access to diagnostic tests will help save lives and this new community diagnostic centre for Yeovil and surrounding region will help to achieve this.”

READ MORE: Plans submitted for outpatient centre and diagnosis centre at Yeovil Hospital

And Will Bilbrough, technical development director for Prime, said: “As the trust’s strategic estates partner, Prime is thrilled to reach this significant milestone in the creation of a facility which will improve lives through state-of-the-art diagnostic services.

“This is the latest in several joint projects which have transformed experiences of health care in east Somerset. We now turn our focus, energy and expertise towards the building phase.

“Over the next 12 months we’ll be utilising modern methods of construction to deliver this much-needed building at pace, ensuring that the trust and the local community can benefit from the centre as soon as possible.”

Bernie Marden, chief medical officer for NHS Somerset, added: “This is a fantastic step forward in the development of this vital centre, which will expand our diagnostic capacity bringing about a step-change in diagnostics for patients in Somerset.

“We’re already bringing down long waits for patients, but this centre will make a big difference in our ability to diagnose people quickly and get them through to treatment.”