New scanning centre given planning approval

Image source, Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust

Image caption, It is hoped the centre will welcome patients from autumn 2024

A new health centre aimed at streamlining diagnostics for serious illnesses has been given planning approval.

It will be built on land at Mansfield鈥檚 Community Hospital on Stockwell Gate, with a second in the pipeline for Nottingham City Hospital.

NHS papers say the site will be a "one-stop shop" for tests such as CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds that will allow people to get quicker diagnoses for illnesses such as cancer.

The plans were first unveiled by Nottinghamshire NHS leaders and Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust earlier this year.

Mansfield District Council鈥檚 planning committee gave unanimous backing to the plans at a meeting on Monday.

The facility will be built on existing land at the community hospital site, with an existing Victorian building due to be demolished to make way.

NHS bosses expect the facility to welcome its first patient by autumn 2024.

David Martin, an Ashfield Independents councillor for the Selston ward, said the approval is "a great news story".

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to increase diagnoses and that鈥檚 great news for our part of the county," the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.