Former Gateshead House of Fraser let to NHS

A former department store in Gateshead is set to be transformed into an NHS Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), representing the repurposing of 40,000 sq ft of retail space.

The ex-House of Fraser site at Metrocentre has been let to the NHS Foundation Trusts for Newcastle and Gateshead, with the new CDC set to provide imaging as well as respiratory and cardiac investigations. The centre will be built to create capacity for those medical services which are seeing increasing amounts of referrals.

It is hoped the centre will provide improved access to screening and diagnostic services for local people outside of a hospital environment.

Metrocentre asset manager Sovereign Centros said the plans will create extra capacity while speeding up diagnoses for patients, to enable better patient care and outcomes.

Ben Cox of Sovereign Centros said: “The letting represents a major milestone in the evolution of the Centre. Metrocentre is renowned as a leading retail and leisure destination, but in the future it will also be a key regional location for alternative uses including healthcare.”

He added: “This initiative is particularly significant due to the repurposing of the former House of Fraser department store space. Delivering alternative uses to Metrocentre is a key facet of the business plan and this project is a major step in the initial phase of that delivery.”

Once open, the centre is expected to offer 145,000 appointments per year and create 134 jobs.