Part of our commitment to improving patient care involves providing the best facilities to deliver specialist heart and lung treatment, and research. As part of this commitment, work started on a new imaging centre in April 2019. Our current imaging facilities already offer patients some of the most cutting-edge services to diagnose cases of suspected heart and lung disease in the UK, but the new Diagnostic Centre will also allow us to:
- expand clinical services
- increase research and education programmes
- create the type of environment patients expect from a leading specialist heart and lung centre
- improve access to our imaging services, including MRI, CT and x-ray
- house all the imaging facilities in a bigger, better space.
The plans for the centre have been co-designed with clinical teams and patients to ensure that we provide the best care in a suitable environment.
The design
The Diagnostic Centre is four storeys – two above and two below ground level – and is designed to make movement around the centre easier and more direct for both patients and staff. There is an access route between the building and inpatient areas, including from Sydney wing, making the journey to the centre for diagnostics and treatment quick and direct. The building is also future-proofed, which will allow us to adapt and expand if we need to in the future.
Interior design
The Diagnostic Centre redevelopment offered us a blank canvas to create a comforting space of calmness and support to all our patients, which is something our project team, our arts team and designers have all worked hard to achieve.
Building work phases
The building work has been split into two phases, these include:
Phase one: Preliminary building work started on Dovehouse Street, SW London, in April 2019 and was completed in December 2019. Phase one included:
- setting up the site with hoarding and an operative secure entrance
- stripping the interior of the existing building
- demolishing the outer structure of the existing building.
Phase two: This involved building work which began in January 2020 and was completed in November 2021. .
View an interactive timeline which tracks the development of the Royal Brompton Diagnostic Centre from January 2020 till now.