PATIENTS in the North West have benefited from more than 126,000 additional tests, checks and scans in the last year, thanks in part to community diagnostic centres.

NHS data shows that in the year to August 2023, more than 2.7 million tests were delivered to thousands of patients across the region.

The success in the North West is announced as the government have said it will meet its target to open 160 community diagnostic centres a year early.

All 160 centres will be open by March 2024, including 25 across the North West, a year ahead of the original March 2025 target – speeding up access to potentially lifesaving tests and checks.

As well as purpose built centres, there are also community diagnostic centres based in a variety of settings, such as shopping centres, to make accessing tests and checks as convenient as possible for communities.

Community diagnostic centres mean earlier diagnosis for patients through easier, faster and more direct access to the full range of diagnostic tests needed to understand patients’ symptoms, a reduction in attendance to acute hospital sites, and a reduction in waiting times by diverting patients away from hospital settings.

Across the region, CDCs are successfully bringing down the backlog of those waiting for tests and checks, created by the pandemic.

• In East Lancashire, where there are two CDCs located in Burnley and Rossendale, there was nearly a 200% rise in diagnostics tests in the period between 1 April and 30 July 2023, against the planned activity. And the Rossendale site now has even more capacity to diagnose people earlier, as the site is the first in the UK to benefit from a semi automatic Valory Ceiling mounted X-ray system which will provide more flexibility and scanning capability.
• In Liverpool, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre became the first cancer centre in the United Kingdom to expand beyond cancer, by opening a diagnostic centre for people with other health conditions as well as those who may have cancer. The NHS acquired the former privately-run Rutherford Cancer Centre North West in the Paddington Village and now offers tests to people referred by health professionals to check for a wide range of conditions including musculoskeletal problems, gastrointestinal conditions, lung conditions and cancer.
• In Oldham, one of the largest out of hospital CDCs is managed by Northern Care Alliance NHS FT, and is a case study for how rapid mobilisation of CDCs is possible. In less than 12 months, the £10 million project went from brownfield site to completion, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visiting in February 2023.

The CDC 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.

Dr Michael Gregory, Regional Medical Director for NHS England – North West said: “Community diagnostic centres across the North West are playing a major role in making potentially lifesaving diagnostic tests more easily accessible for people across the region.

“The incredible hard work of staff has meant that patients are diagnosed and treated for a range of conditions as quickly as possible, closer to home, with greater choice on where and how they are treated, reducing the need for hospital visits and helping them to receive potentially life-saving care sooner.

“Delivering more than 2.7 million tests, checks and scans in just a year is a remarkable achievement by our NHS in the North West.”

Across England, the average waiting time for diagnostic tests has fallen from almost nine weeks at the peak of the pandemic (8.6 in May 2020) to just 3.1 weeks in July.

More people than ever before are getting checked for cancer with 263,696 urgent referrals for cancer in July in the country – the highest ever for that month and the second highest on record.