Plans for a new multi-million-pound community diagnostics centre in Barrow have been given the go-ahead.
Westmorland and Furness Council has approved plans from University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust to build the single-storey modular building at Furness General Hospital.
The proposed building would provide a community diagnostics centre including an MRI unit to support existing facilities at Furness General Hospital.
David Sanderson, director of estates and facilities at the trust previously said: “This multi-million-pound development, which will be staffed by our trust, will help cut the time patients spend waiting for tests and results.
“The development is a hugely positive step for the trust in terms of enabling us to deliver high quality and efficient diagnostic services for our patients.
“Most importantly, our patients will benefit from an improved experience, and they will receive their results quicker.”
The plans show the site is an unused piece of land within Furness General Hospital, which previously housed a temporary theatre to support the hospital until it was demolished in 2018.
After the demolition of the building on the site, the area was planted with grass seed by the trust in a bid to remediate the impact of the long-standing temporary theatre.
The nearby Barrow Cricket Club said it was generally in favour of the valuable facility but questioned whether measures had been taken to prevent seagulls nesting on the flat roof.
The club said: “As a Club, we have a number of problems with the hospital staff smoking and eating on our premises, with some feeding the birds and encouraging them; which is against our wishes.
“Seagull nesting and feeding in residential areas has opposing views, but from our point of view, with children playing and watching cricket and seagulls becoming aggressive at fledging time during the cricket season, is an issue for us.”
The trust previously pointed out that many hospital buildings had flat roofs and was well prepared in managing the challenges that pests posed to those structures.
