Work kicks off to construct state-of-the-art pathology lab
Work has begun on a new pathology laboratory to serve patients in Leeds, West Yorkshire and Harrogate.
The facility, at St James’s Hospital, Leeds, will support hospitals across the region to improve diagnostics for patients and help to meet the growing regional demand for specialist treatment and care.
Leeds-based BAM Construction has started work on the site at the north end of the St James’s Hospital campus and are currently preparing the ground ready for building the new laboratory. The facility is expected to be completed in the summer of next year and will become operational in the autumn.
It will be part of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Pathology Network, formed through the collaboration of the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT).
And it will form part of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s wider health improvement plan which includes the development of a new adults’ hospital, a new home for Leeds Children’s Hospital and the largest single-site maternity centre in the UK in one building on the Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) site.
The pathology laboratory will allow the Trust to incorporate most of its pathology services currently housed in outdated facilities in the Old Medical School at LGI as well as some of those delivered from St James’s University Hospital.
The vacated Old Medical School building will be part of a plan to use surplus estate at the LGI to develop an innovation village, which could create up to 3,000 new jobs.
Simon Worthington, the trust’s director of finance and senior responsible officer for the Building the Leeds Way Programme, said: “Pathology teams have continued to do a tremendous job in the fast turnaround of testing during the pandemic while working in outdated facilities.
“The new laboratory will mean they will be able to work with new state-of-the-art equipment and buildings which will help provide an even better service for patients.”
Dame Linda Pollard, chair of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The Government decision on the new pathology laboratory shows how committed they are to our exciting plans for taking healthcare to the next level in Leeds, the Yorkshire region and beyond.
“Our development of two new hospitals and a new innovation district for the city is also the catalyst for the wider regeneration of Leeds city centre with the innovation district bringing new investment and jobs.”
Paul Cleminson, pre-construction director for BAM Construction North East, said the work being carried out on site was amongst the most advanced in any UK healthcare facility.
“It’s an exciting time to be involved with construction but this scheme will be especially important as it pushes the boundaries for us all,” he added.
