Empty building in Taunton which has cost taxpayers millions to finally be occupied
An empty building in Taunton, which has cost taxpayers millions of pounds, could finally be occupied over the next year.
The Zenith Fire Control Centre, near junction 25 of the M5, was meant to handle 999 calls but hasn't been used since it was built in 2007.
However, it is set to be converted for use by Musgrove Park Hospital to carry out scans and X-Rays.
The centre was built as part of a money-saving operation in 2004. The project was scrapped in 2010 and there have been attempts ever since to find an occupier.
Figures in 2016 showed costs for rent, bills and management soared to more than £16 million.
The building will now be redeveloped by Rutherford Diagnostics, which is developing a network of diagnostic centres across the UK.
The company has agreed a partnership with the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Musgrove Park Hospital, which will see the centre providing its services to the Trust for 10 years.
The centre will offer services including computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound and X-Ray.
David Shannon, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s director of strategic development and improvement, said: “Across the NHS more patients are being referred for specialist diagnostic tests. In an effort to keep pace with this growing demand, we have also recently invested in additional and upgraded MRI and CT scanners at Musgrove Park Hospital.
“But even with these measures, our provision of scanning will not keep pace with demand in the future. Our waiting times for some diagnostic tests are too long which has been made even more challenging during the pandemic.
"We want to do better for our patients and believe that our partnership with Rutherford Diagnostics will help us to do this.”
Dr Steven Powell, Chief Diagnostics Officer at Rutherford Diagnostics, said: “The centre will be a vital addition to the region’s diagnostic capacity.
"Diagnostics centres such as ours are all the more important now given the impact of Covid-19 on testing and screening for various diseases.
"This centre will play an important role in increasing the amount of diagnostic tests that are available to patients across Somerset, supporting earlier diagnosis when it is operational in late 2021.”
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