Drugs test lab plans revealed for EX-CVS HQ
APPROVAL WOULD LEAD TO CREATION OF 10 NEW JOBS
A DRUG and alcohol testing facility could open in Swadlincote, providing new jobs, plans have revealed.
The building in Grove Street was previously headquarters for the South Derbyshire Community Voluntary Support (CVS), which left the premises after 20 years due to changes in its work practices amid the Covid pandemic.
Now, Medical, Health and Education Ltd wants to move in and use the ground flood as a medical laboratory and first floor as residential accommodation for the owners as a presence is required on site 24 hours a day. Medical, Health and Education Ltd specialises in workplace drug and alcohol testing, drug education and medical/ occupational health testing.
Plans have now been submitted to South Derbyshire District Council for permission to convert the building.
The business is run by a husbandand-wife team with a staff from three peaking to 18 during the recent pandemic. Ten new roles will be created by their new plans if approved.
A report submitted alongside the application said: “The proposal would provide an on-site laboratory, the current practice is to use third party laboratories, which would require staffing levels of 10 in total, three full time employees, two being the co-directors of the business, and seven part-time employees working shifts.
“The expertise to implement and successfully run the laboratory is provided by Mr Evans, who was a scientific officer in a Home Office licensed forensic laboratory, previously having worked in drug misuse/toxicology, and HM Prison and Drug Treatment Centres, and Mrs Evans, a qualified teacher, and a strong advocate for the drug and alcohol education workshops the business provides for schools, colleges, and other businesses.”
The report added that currently, UK laboratories for drug testing have a turnaround time of on average three to five days, during which time the employee is suspended.
Medical, Health and Education Ltd says it intends to offer a turnaround of overnight, which the firms says would be considerably faster than the current average, reducing the time an employee is suspended, and greatly reduce the cost of testing programmes.
The business hopes to expand the range of health tests and to offer the local community affordable medical diagnostics, particularly in the field of early detection of cancer, and/or test to enable more tailored cancer treatments.
The application added that the premises would provide educational support to children in the area, along with meeting rooms for community groups. A decision is due to be made in the next few months.
South Derbyshire CVS put its former home up for sale last year for £375,000 saying, at the time, that during the last 18 months of the pandemic it has adapted to new ways of working from home and at the new food bank premises at Hill Street Baptist Church.
The current based is a Grade Ii-listed property and consists of 15 offices, a large meeting room, reception office and waiting area, along with kitchen and toilet facilities. There is also a car park and separate storage unit.
In February, the CVS revealed it had handed out more than 12,000 meals to South Derbyshire families in seven months during the pandemic.
South Derbyshire CVS revealed between the start of the pandemic in March and October, it supplied 12,654 meals to 552 children and 854 adults.