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11
Apr
Could £12.5m diagnostics facility open in Harrogate’s Victoria Shopping Centre?
A new community diagnostics centre is set to open in Harrogate — but could it be in a former town centre cafe unit?
The Stray Ferret revealed in January that Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust plans to create the facility as the trust continues to struggle to meet diagnostic waiting time targets due to increased demand.
The centre, which is set to cost £12.5 million, would include CT, MRI and X-ray scanners and help to diagnose conditions earlier so patients can start treatment quicker.
At the time of writing, a site for the facility has not been confirmed. But, the Stray Ferret understands that the former Cafe M unit in the Victoria Shopping Centre is under consideration.
The cafe, which was opposite the train station, closed in February 2022.
A CT scanner.
Should the site be used as a diagnostics centre, it would follow a trend set by other hospital trusts in opening such facilities in town centres.
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals in Scunthorpe and Grimsby, opened a community diagnostics facility in Freshney Place shopping centre in Grimsby in March 2025 which aims to offer 150,000 appointments a year.
While the Harrogate trust has yet to finalise a location for the facility, a spokesperson said previously that it was considering sites in Harrogate town centre with “good access”.
The Stray Ferret asked Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust whether it could confirm that the site in the town's Victoria Shopping Centre was under consideration for the centre.
A spokesperson said:
We cannot confirm a location for the CDC proposal as it has yet to be finalised.
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