The government has announced 13 new community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to be launched across the country, eight of which are to be independently run.

The new centres are part of a plan to cut NHS waiting lists.

Five of the independent sector-led CDCs will operate in the South West of England, with permanent sites fully opening in 2024 in Redruth, Bristol, Torbay, Yeovil and Weston-Super-Mare. Three others will open in Southend, Northampton and South Birmingham.

Health and social care Secretary, Steve Barclay, said: "We must use every available resource to deliver life-saving checks to ease pressure on the NHS.

"By making use of the available capacity in the independent sector, and enabling patients to access this diagnostic capacity free at the point of need, we can offer patients a wider choice of venues to receive treatment and in doing so diagnose major illnesses quicker and start treatments sooner.

"The Elective Recovery Taskforce has identified additional diagnostic capacity that is available in the independent sector which we will now use more widely to enable patients to access the care they need quicker."

Health minister and Elective Recovery Taskforce chair, Will Quince, said: "We have already made significant progress in bringing down waiting lists, with 18 month waits virtually eliminated.

"I chaired the Elective Recovery Taskforce to turbocharge these efforts and help patients get the treatment they need.

"These actions will bolster capacity across the country and give patients more choice over where and when they are treated."

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay