Plans have been submitted for the latest phase of hospital upgrades designed to provide fast-track diagnoses across Halton and Warrington.

Warrington And Halton Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has lodged an application with Halton Borough Council for a two-storey extension on the Captain Sir Tom Moore Building in Runcorn. It would include an MRI and CT scanners, changing and toilet facilities.

It was announced in November last year that the Trust had been successful in the latest round of funding applications to create the new community diagnostic centre (CDC), part of a government effort to reduce waiting times.

The £6m, 760 sq my extension would be built on the gravel overspill car park to the side of the existing building. If everything goes to plan, it would be operational by the middle of November next year.

The Captain Sir Tom Moore Building - formerly known as Cheshire and Merseyside Treatment Centre - is currently home to orthopaedic surgery and treatment services on the Halton General Hospital campus. It provides surgery ranging from hand and foot operations through to hip replacement operations as well as sports injuries and other bone and joint care.

The Trust has received national funding for the project and is one of 160 centres around the country set up at a cost of £2.3bn.

The initial stage of the current development focused on the refurbishment and modernisation of existing space within the Nightingale Building at Halton Hospital. Services including blood testing (phlebotomy), lung testing (spirometry) and ultrasound, which are staffed by a multidisciplinary team including nurses and radiographers, are now fully operational.

Work is also under way on an extension to services provided at Halton Health Hub, which opened in Runcorn Shopping Centre last December, with ultrasound, blood testing, audiology and lung testing scheduled to get under way before the end of this year.

No date has yet been set for a decision.