The hub is open currently for appointments only but includes both a sexual health clinic and a children's therapy service and is aimed at providing more accessible treatment for patients as well as an improved working environment for staff.

The children’s therapies centre boasts four counselling rooms and a group area, while the sexual health clinic has four consulting rooms, an interview room and a laboratory.

Mark Young, Associate Director of Estates Transformation with Solent NHS Trust, was the first person to notice the central location for the hub.

After an alternative option for the service fell through, Mark clocked the empty units while taking his son to the nearby soft-play centre and quickly grabbed a photograph to share with the Solent team.

A site visit was organised and, before long, the old kitchens were being ripped out to make way for a "state-of-the-art" combined health centre.

Mark said the project puts two important NHS services in the centre of the town, providing them with "flexible healthcare spaces fit for the future".

He added: "In transforming disused restaurant facilities into a modern, multi-purpose centre, we have created somewhere fresh, inspiring and extremely accessible for both our patients and staff.

“The transformation has not always run smoothly, and I am extremely grateful to my team for their endless passion, drive and commitment in getting to the finish line.

“All their hard work paid off when they saw the delighted reactions of staff seeing the new facilities for the first time. We are hoping that our patients will be equally impressed as they start to use the centre in the coming weeks and months.”

An opening event is being planned for the autumn, when it is hoped social distancing and other restrictions will have been eased.