The Health and Social Care Secretary has today (Friday, 9th June) confirmed eight new Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) will open by the end of the year – with four of them in Humber and North Yorkshire.
Since July 2021, more than 100 CDCs have already delivered more than four million additional checks, tests and scans for a range of conditions from cancer to heart or lung disease – helping to cut waiting lists.
The one-stop shops support quicker access to care and offer patients a wide range of tests closer to home.
The four new CDCs in Humber and North Yorkshire announced today by Health and Social Care Secretary. Steve Barclay, will be in:-
- Scarborough: this will open in the town centre near Scarborough train station in December 2023 and offer 91,000 additional checks a year once fully operational
- Ripon: this will open at Ripon Community Hospital in the same month, and will have capacity for 27,000 checks a year once up and running
- Grimsby: this facility will open in December 2023 and will have the capacity to deliver 115,000 tests.
- Hull: this will open in the city in December 2023 and have the capacity to deliver 199,000 tests for people living in Hull and East Riding
The government says it is investing £2.3 billion to transform diagnostic services, with 108 CDCs already up and running and a further 41 due to open. They have opened in a range of settings since the programme started in July 2021, including shopping centres and university campuses.
GPs can 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 are not only more convenient for patients but are also more efficient for staff and free up clinicians’ time to help further cut the waiting lists.
In May, it was announced that funding has been secured for a new £19.4 million Community Diagnostic Centre to be built in Scunthorpe Town Centre. Over the coming year, services will be phased in at other CDCs in Humber and North Yorkshire, including Selby War Memorial Hospital, Askham Bar Community Care Centre near York, Withernsea Community Hospital, and East Riding Community Hospital in Beverley, supplemented by mobile MRI and CT services which are already available.
Mr Barclay said: “These new centres will benefit tens of thousands of patients, cutting out unnecessary hospital visits and delivering closer, more convenient care.
“Patients will be able to access a range of life-saving tests, including MRI scans, X-rays, and respiratory checks – speeding up the diagnosis of illnesses like cancer and heart disease.”
Sue Symington, chair of NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), added: “The Community Diagnostic Schemes across Humber and North Yorkshire represent an £80 million capital investment and – once fully up and running – will mean there’s extra capacity for around 900,000 additional tests, checks and scans a year.
“It’s a revolution in the way patients access diagnostic services and will speed up the detection of many serious illnesses meaning patients can start their treatment and recovery much sooner.”
NHS national director of elective recovery, Sir James Mackey, says the ‘one-stop shops’ are playing a “key role the NHS’s elective recovery plan”.
“Our elective recovery plan sets out how the NHS will deliver nine million more tests and checks per year by 2025, and the work of these diagnostic centres – some in convenient spots including shopping centres – are excellent examples of the innovative work being done across the health service to ensure patients get the tests and checks they need as quickly as possible,” he said.
