A new multi-storey car park, upgraded scanning equipment and more testing areas will be set up at Halton Hospital as part of government plans to clear health backlogs caused by the pandemic.

The Department for Health and Social Care is spending  £2.3 billion on 160 fast track 'community diagnostic centres' (CDCs) around the country, designed to deliver tests and other heath checks. A total of 92 sites are currently up and running, with Halton chosen among the next 10 to open.

Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals Trust applied for funding in two lots, the first phase - valued at £10.5m - will see a smaller 'fast track' community diagnostic centre operating in the existing Nightingale building. The work includes upgrading the existing MRI scanner in the Captain Sir Tom Moore building to extend its useful life and improve productivity,

Additional rooms to accommodate lung tests and sleep studies, more diagnostic equipment to support future expansion in line with demand growth including CT, MRI, X-ray, phlebotomy equipment and point-of-care testing will also be set up.

There will also be additional capacity for ultrasound and blood tests along with a new multi-storey car park to accommodate larger patient numbers and future-proof access to the site for further growth.

The fast-track CDC will increase capacity for tests and checks, provide additional staff and enable the refurbishment and modernisation of currently unsuitable parts of the hospital estate.

As well as meeting current and future demand for the Trust it will also support the wider Cheshire and Merseyside footprint through a ‘mutual aid’ scheme – with the aim of achieving a maximum six-week diagnostic wait across the entire region.

Lucy Gardner, director of strategy and partnerships said: “Creating a CDC at Halton is major strategic investment which will not just benefit the patients of Halton and Warrington, but the wider Cheshire and Merseyside region as we work together to tackle extended waiting times and backlogs that accumulated because of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as addressing health inequalities and deprivation linked to this region.

“It also enables us to test the foundation for a potential larger-scale development of a new-build CDC at Halton which would see the Captain Sir Tom Moore building extended – a critical enabler of the Trust’s new hospitals programme.”

The facility is set to open in Spring 2023 with completion of the multi-story car park set for summer 2024