The government will meet its target to open 160 community diagnostic centres a year early, the Health and Social Care Secretary has announced. All 160 centres will be open by March 2024, a year ahead of the original March 2025 target - speeding up access to diagnostic tests and checks.
In a speech to the Independent Healthcare Providers Network earlier this week, Steve Barclay confirmed the rollout of the one-stop shops following the hard work of NHS staff and the government’s efforts to maximise use of the independent sector - backed by £2.3 billion in capital funding.
Based in a variety of settings including shopping centres, university campuses and football stadiums, 127 of the community healthcare hubs are already open - including 40 brought forward earlier than planned. They offer patients a wide range of diagnostic tests closer to home and greater choice on where and how they are treated, reducing the need for hospital visits.
The programme constitutes the largest central cash investment in MRI and CT scanning capacity in the history of the NHS and has already delivered more than five million additional tests, checks and scans across the country. The new centres will provide capacity for nine million more by 2025 as part of the NHS and government’s plan to recover services following the pandemic.
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Patients deserve the highest quality care, and community diagnostic centres have been instrumental in speeding up the diagnosis of illnesses like cancer and heart disease to ensure patients are treated more quickly. I’m delighted we will open 160 CDCs a year early, allowing greater access to high tech scans and diagnostics in communities across England. This has been made possible by using all capacity available to us and drawing on the independent sector - helping us to cut waiting lists, one of the government’s top five priorities.
The government has announced three of the final locations which will serve tens of thousands of patients, with all set to open in December 2023. They are:
- Queen Mary’s Sidcup CDC - based in south-east London, the facility will offer CT, MRI and ultrasound checks, along with blood tests
- Halifax CDC - based at Broad Street Plaza shopping centre in the Yorkshire town, this CDC will offer ultrasound checks, blood tests and heart scans
- Chichester University CDC, Bognor Regis - this facility will offer CT and MRI scans along with ultrasound checks and blood tests to patients.
In total, 13 of the CDCs are led by the independent sector, with eight of these already operational. There are a further 22 CDCs located on the NHS estate where the independent sector is providing diagnostic services. They function like NHS-run CDCs but by making use of the available capacity in the independent sector patients can access additional diagnostic capacity free at the point of need.
Earlier this year, the government’s Elective Recovery Taskforce set out a plan to maximise independent sector capacity to treat NHS patients more quickly. Chaired by Health Minister Will Quince and made up of academics and experts from the NHS and independent sector, the taskforce looked for ways to go further to bust the COVID-19 backlogs and reduce waiting times for patients.
Its recommendations will ensure patients have the right to receive care at a provider of their choice, encourage the system to work together to deliver a post-pandemic recovery, and monitor the contribution of the independent sector to delivering health services and developing the workforce.
