The Metrocentre will host one of 19 new community diagnostic centres (CDCs) - designed to offer patients a "one-stop shop" for medical scans and tests in the community.
This, a possibility first reported by ChronicleLive in August 2022, will see an expansion of the services currently available at Blaydon Primary Care Centre and a new £20m facility in the Metrocentre. The Department of Health and Social Care on Monday said tens of thousands of patients around England would benefit from quicker access to tests.
The NHS facility is understood to be moving into part of the old House of Fraser store in the shopping centre.
Patients can head for a range of scans and tests after being referred by a GP - with the idea being to tackle backlogs by helping people receive care without having to head for hospital. The Government says data shows the existing 92 CDCs have carried out more than three millions tests.
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The CDC in the Metrocentre will offer 145,000 appointments a year and create 134 jobs. It will provide imaging, respiratory investigations and cardiac investigations - and has been designed to boost capacity for areas of care seeing greater demand.
Joanne Baxter, chief operating officer at the Gateshead Health NHS Trust, said: "The investment in the Community Diagnostic Centre is part of a wider programme to improve access to healthcare within the community and adds to what is already provided at the QE Hospital, the RVI and the Freeman Hospital.
"By creating the extra capacity in imaging and other diagnostics, we know that this will speed up diagnosis for patients therefore resulting in better patient care and improved outcomes."
Dame Jackie Daniel, chief executive at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust added it was great news for patients. She said: "Patients often tell us that coming into hospital is difficult for them, so we wanted to provide these services at a venue which is so easy to access by car and by public transport. Hopefully it will make life easier for many people."
Gateshead Council leader Coun Martin Gannon said he was looking forward to seeing the plans progress and: "The CDC will make essential healthcare services more accessible for our communities, not just by adding extra capacity but also through its convenient location at Metrocentre, which has excellent public transport links. The creation of 134 jobs is also very welcome."
Ben Cox, the senior asset manager for the Metrocentre at owners Sovereign Centros, said the announcement was "another key milestone" for the Metrocentre and would "deliver a flagship facility for the region".
Speaking about the 19 newly-announced CDCs, Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: "They will take us even further, utilising cutting-edge MRI, CT and X-ray machine to transform the way we deliver care closer to people’s homes helping tens of thousands of people."
Previously, Blaydon received a cut of £350m in the first wave of CDC openings. As did North Tyneside Hospital. This has seen new CT and MRI scanning services introduced. At North Tyneside, a new CT scanner has been funded, while at the Durham Treatment Centre on the Belmont Industrial Estate scanning services increased from five to seven days a week.
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