CDCs at shopping centres, football stadiums make checks simpler and sooner
A total of 6.1 million tests, scans and health checks have taken place at community diagnostic centres (CDCs) across the United Kingdom till November 2023 since CDCs were first introduced in July 2021.
The local hubs, 141 till date, helped speed up diagnoses and treatments for NHS (National Health Service) patients. The target is to open 160 CDCs by March 2025, the British government said in a statement.
“The government’s £2.3 billion Community Diagnostic Centre programme is the largest investment in MRI and CT scanning capacity in the history of the NHS,” health and social care secretary Victoria Atkins said.
Placing high-tech equipment in places like shopping centres, university campuses and near football stadiums makes it simpler and sooner for patients to get the care they need.
Dr Vin Diwakar, NHS Medical Director for Transformation, said, “Thanks to the hard work of staff, latest data shows the NHS has delivered a record 25.9 million tests and checks over the past year – two million more than the previous 12 months, and almost 50% more than a decade ago.”
As a result of the success of the CDC programme and the wider measures outlined in the Elective Recovery Plan, the government met its target to virtually eliminate waits of over two years and has cut 18-month waits by over 90% from the peak in September 2021.
In November, the government also provided £800 million – a combination of reprioritised and new funding – to mitigate the impact of industrial action.
It is also maximising independent sector capacity reduce waiting times for NHS patients. A number of the CDCs are run by the independent sector but available to NHS patients as part of the programme.
