The team behind the £42.6m Stoke-on-Trent Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) has completed the transformation of a former supermarket into a healthcare facility designed to expand access to diagnostic services across Staffordshire.
The project was delivered by Integrated Health Projects (IHP), the joint venture between VINCI Building UK and Sir Robert McAlpine, working alongside healthcare architecture practice Gilling Dod Architects and a specialist supply chain that included furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) provider Hygenius.
Delivered for University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) NHS Trust, the Hanley-based centre occupies the site of a former Sainsbury's store and forms part of the NHS CDC programme.
The facility provides MRI, CT, ultrasound and X-ray services and is expected to carry out up to 85,000 tests and scans annually.
Project stakeholders have highlighted the scale of the conversion, which saw the retail building reconfigured into a modern healthcare environment designed to improve patient experience while meeting the technical requirements of a high-volume diagnostic facility.
Hygenius, which delivered the project's FF&E package, said the transformation demonstrated how existing commercial buildings can be successfully adapted for healthcare use.
In a project update shared following completion of the scheme, the company described the facility as "a fully operational healthcare space" created from a former supermarket.
The supplier worked with Gilling Dod Architects and IHP to deliver a complex FF&E package throughout the building, including reception and public-facing areas designed to create a welcoming environment for patients.
The facility also focuses on patient-centred design, incorporating interior features influenced by Stoke-on-Trent's ceramics heritage and has been developed through engagement with patients, staff and local communities.
The project has been one of the largest CDC developments delivered, and construction for the project progressed earlier this year.
The scheme was also featured in Building Better Healthcare’s March roundup of CDC construction milestones, which tracks progress across the national rollout of community diagnostic facilities.
NHS England reports that more than 170 CDCs are now operational across the country.