Patients are now benefiting from the creation of two new Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in Lincoln and Skegness which were built concurrently by modern methods of construction specialist MTX Contracts.

The same management team co-ordinated the build of the two new facilities 42 miles apart for United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (ULTH), managing resources and skills across the two sites. Precisely engineered structural steel modules were manufactured off-site while groundworks were under way to create the foundations at the two locations in Lincoln and Skegness. Mechanical and electrical services were manufactured as modules where appropriate to speed up the construction process and reduce costs.

A total of 71 off-site manufactured structural units were craned into place to create the two community diagnostic centres – 42 in Lincoln and 29 at Skegness. 

Employing MMC enables MTX to deliver fully compliant high quality facilities for NHS Trusts faster, safer, greener and more cost effectively, compared with conventional building techniques. Work progressed at a rapid pace to fit out and equip the state-of-the-art facilities for their specialist roles.

Lincoln CDC, located on Lincoln Science and Innovation Park offers a range of diagnostic services, including X-ray, MRI, CT and non-obstetric ultrasound. It has dedicated facilities to support the training of future radiographers, with ULTH becoming one of the first NHS Trusts in the country to link directly with a school of radiography at the University of Lincoln.

The Skegness facility on Old Wainfleet Road brought a number of NHS diagnostic services to the town for the first time when it opened in November 2024, including state-of-the art CT and MRI scanners, echocardiograms and dental X-ray. Services available at the Skegness CDC include non-obstetric ultrasound and a range of physiological testing, such as blood tests for adults and children over the age of five, standard ECGs and 24-hour blood pressure testing. Blood testing for chemotherapy patients is also available, in the first step to develop a chemotherapy service from the site.

MTX Managing Director David Hartley said: “It has been our privilege to partner the Trust in delivering these two new community diagnostic centres that will have such a huge impact on waiting lists and deliver a significant improvement in patient care.  This contract is one of several won by MTX to build CDCs across the UK, using our extensive experience and advanced modern methods of construction.”

MTX worked closely with the Trust on the design and build of the new facilities and also collaborated on involving and supporting community engagement, including a sponsored walk between the two sites by members of the construction team and healthcare staff.

Professor Karen Dunderdale, Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals Group Chief Executive, said: “We are very proud to be delivering new diagnostic services that we know will make a huge difference to the local community. The CDCs offer more choice and convenience to help reduce travel for patients, while increasing the number of appointments to help bring down waiting times for diagnostic tests.”

Each centre in Lincolnshire is designed to consider the specific health needs of the local community.  Community diagnostic centres offer a range of elective (planned) diagnostic services, away from main hospital sites, providing easier and quicker access to tests, potentially closer to patients’ homes.