Millions of patients are set to benefit from earlier diagnostic tests thanks to 40 new Community Diagnostic Centres that are opening across England.
The new one-stop-shops for checks, scans and tests will be backed by a £350 million investment from government to provide around 2.8 million scans in the first full year of operation. GPs will be able to refer patients to a centre so they can access life-saving checks closer to home and be diagnosed for a range of conditions, rather than travelling to hospital.
The centres, which include local shopping centres and football stadiums, will help achieve earlier diagnoses for patients through easier, faster, and more direct access to the full range of diagnostic tests needed to understand patients’ symptoms including breathlessness, cancer, ophthalmology.
This, in turn, should be reduce hospital visits, reduce waits by diverting patients away from hospitals, and contribute to the NHS’ net zero ambitions by providing multiple tests at one visit, reducing the number of patient journeys and helping to cut carbon emissions and air pollution.
The centres will begin providing services over the next six months, with some already up and running, and will be fully operational by March 2022.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid said: “Tackling waiting lists will require new and more innovative ways of delivering the services people need. That is why we’re making it easier and more convenient to get checked. Our new Community Diagnostic Centres will bring those crucial tests closer to home including in the communities that need them most. They will help enable earlier diagnosis, allowing us to catch cancer and other issues as quickly as possible, and save more lives.”
Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said: “Rapid diagnosis will save lives and these one stop shops for checks, scans and tests in the heart of local communities will not only make services more accessible and convenient for patients but they will also help us to improve outcomes for patients with cancer and other serious conditions, ultimately sparing more patients and families the pain and trauma of disease.
“NHS staff have continued to provide routine care, throughout the pandemic, alongside treating around 450,000 seriously ill covid patients in hospital, and the roll-out of these community diagnostic centres will help us to spot problems sooner, when they are easier to treat.”
