Shrub Hill Quarter is shortlisted for a Worcestershire NHS Community Diagnostics Centre. No site is chosen yet. What the council said and what comes next.

Shrub Hill Quarter is one of the sites being looked at for a new NHS Community Diagnostics Centre for Worcestershire. Nothing has been decided. The county council says it is in “active discussions with NHS partners” about delivering the centre, and that Shrub Hill is “one of a number of locations being considered”.

The council announced it on Friday 2 October in a news release. It says a spot for the building has already been identified within the wider Shrub Hill Quarter masterplan, “should the site be selected”.

What a diagnostics centre is

Community Diagnostics Centres are NHS buildings for tests and scans that sit outside a main hospital. The council’s release says they give “faster and easier access to tests, scans and diagnostics”, cut the need for hospital visits and help patients get care more quickly.

The release does not say which tests a Worcester centre would offer. It also does not name the NHS bodies in the talks, the other sites on the list, a cost or a timetable.

Why now

The council links the talks to a government funding programme announced earlier this year. On 13 April the Department of Health and Social Care announced £237 million for 36 diagnostics centres in England:

  • 4 brand new centres, in Gorton, Luton, Boston and Bideford
  • 17 existing centres to be physically expanded
  • 15 to be enhanced to add capacity

No Worcestershire site is named in that announcement.

The county council’s case for Shrub Hill is partly about regeneration. Its release says a centre “could help address capacity pressures on existing NHS services and locations”. It adds that it could “bring early investment, employment and activity to the area, acting as a springboard for wider regeneration”.

The bigger Shrub Hill plan

The diagnostics talks run alongside a much larger job. The council says it will open a procurement “early in October” to appoint a Development Partner for Shrub Hill Quarter. The first focus is Lower Yard and Upper Yard, which together make up the Shrub Hill Industrial Estate.

The council’s own figures for the area:
Shrub Hill Quarter about 14 hectares linking the city centre with Shrub Hill station
Shrub Hill Industrial Estate 4 hectares, owned by the county council, with 280,000 sq ft of industrial and office space
Homes capacity for “500+”, according to the council’s February procurement notice
Development Partner contract estimated 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2031, with a possible extension to 31 October 2033

The same notice says the estate has already had public realm improvements and land cleared for housing. It also mentions continuing work on “a 37,000 sq ft heritage conversion for commercial uses”.

That February notice expected the tender to launch in April or May. As of Wednesday 7 October, the procurement’s public record on Find a Tender still showed only planning notices, with no live tender yet.

The masterplan was drawn up jointly by the county council and Worcester City Council. The city’s Local Plan allocates a wider Shrub Hill Opportunity Zone of 22.6 hectares for 900 homes, as set out in our Worcester planning news page.

What the council said

Councillor Adam Kent is the county council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate Services and Business. He said:

“As we launch the search for a Development Partner, we’re also exploring opportunities that could help bring early investment and activity to the site, including ongoing discussions with NHS partners about the potential for a Community Diagnostics Centre. While those discussions are ongoing, it is a really good example of how Shrub Hill Quarter could begin delivering benefits for residents from the very earliest stages of the regeneration journey.”

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes for patients yet. Tests and scans carry on where they are booked now. Your appointment letter is the place to check.
  • Shrub Hill is not confirmed. The council’s own wording is that it is one of several sites under consideration. The release gives no date for a decision.
  • If Shrub Hill is chosen, the centre would sit by the station. The industrial estate is next to Worcester Shrub Hill station. Our parking in Worcester page covers the nearby car parks.
  • Questions about the redevelopment can go to the county council’s major projects team at majorprojects@worcestershire.gov.uk, the address on its Shrub Hill Quarter page.

We will update this page when the NHS confirms a site, and when the Development Partner tender is published.