Two state of the art Community Diagnostic Centres, opened at the James Paget University Hospital and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn to give additional scan appointments for outpatients, have been crowned Best Healthcare Development under £25m at the Building Better Healthcare Awards.
The Building Better Healthcare Awards recognise innovation and outstanding achievement in the healthcare built environment. The award recognises the work of the Estates and Facilities teams at both hospitals, who worked closely alongside partners LSI Architects, R G Carter, WSP, Rossi Long Consulting and Lexica to deliver the new centres, which opened in 2024.
The outstanding centres house cutting-edge technology with imaging equipment providing a range of specialist scans including MRI and CT scans as well as X-ray and Ultrasound imaging used for diagnosing and monitoring of a wide range of conditions.
Designed with wellbeing and sustainability in mind, the new facilities provide modern, efficient environments designed specifically to support the needs of staff and mean patients being referred from other healthcare facilities such as GP practices are waiting less time for a diagnostic appointment.
With each building having capacity for 40,000 outpatient appointments each year, these facilities are reducing waiting times for patients diagnostic testing - which ultimately leads to faster treatment and better outcomes for patients.
Anita Haylett, Diagnostic Imaging Service Manager at James Paget University Hospital, said: “We are delighted that our Community Diagnostic Centre has received this award, following lots of hard work with partners across the Norfolk Community Diagnostic Programme to deliver this project.”
“Since opening in June last year, our patients and staff have told us that they love the spacious new environment, which has improved the overall experience of imaging and diagnostics services at the James Paget.”
The QEH and JPUH Community Diagnostic Centres were two of three such facilities opened at the three acute hospitals in Norfolk and Waveney, following the investment of £85.9 million by the Department of Health and Social Care. The third facility opened at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals in February 2025.
Steven Cotton, Director and Project Lead at LSI Architects, said:
“As a team we are very proud of our work on the Norfolk Community Diagnostic Programme and have been delighted to have received such positive feedback from staff and patients who have used the new diagnostic centres.
“To successfully deliver buildings that are having an impact like that is only ever the result of real, collaborative effort between the client team and the whole design team and that was certainly the case on this project. Alongside this, the fact that the clinical teams were so fantastic in engaging with us and sharing their knowledge and experience is a large part of why these buildings are now working so well for patients and staff at both Hospitals.
“We were delighted to be representing the team and to see both the impact, and the hard work of everybody involved in the project, recognised with a Building Better Healthcare Award.”