Government announce diagnostic centre plan to bring down NHS waiting lists
There will be five sites in the south west - located in Redruth, Bristol, Torbay, Yeovil and Weston-super-Mare
Community diagnostic centres are going to be created in parts of England - with five to be launched right here in the South West of England.
The plan is being launched across the country as the Government looks to using the independent sector to cut NHS waiting lists.
In total, 13 of the new CDCs are being announced today (August 4), with five of those launching in out part of the world.
Permanent independent sites which are set to fully open in 2024 include Redruth, Bristol, Torbay, Yeovil and Weston-super-Mare.
Additional diagnostic testing capacity is already being rolled out in our region via the use of mobile diagnostic facilities, to provide additional diagnostic services while these sites are constructed.
Elsewhere, three others will open in Southend, Northampton and South Birmingham, and will all remain free at the point of use for patients.
This adds to the four CDCs run by the independent sector that are already operational in Brighton, North Solihull, Oxford, and Salford.
Five more NHS-run centres will also open across the country, with the Government saying the plans deliver on their ambition to open up to 160 across the country by 2025, backed by £2.3 billion of funding.
These will be in Hornchurch, Skegness, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent.
'We must use every available resource'
These thirteen new CDCs will provide capacity for more than 742,000 extra tests a year once all are fully operational.
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.”
The CDCs are also said to drive efficiency in the health service.
They do that by shielding elective diagnostic services away from the wider pressures which hospitals face.
The government has also set out a range of new measures to unlock spare capacity within the independent healthcare sector, after a review from the Elective Recovery Taskforce, with measures including a commitment to using data on providers, and increasing the amount of training performed on junior NHS staff in the independent sector.
There are currently 114 CDCs open across the country.
Labour wants more use of private capacity
Labour believes the Government is currently not making enough use of private capacity.
The party claims 331,000 patients waiting for NHS care could have been treated since January 2022.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, said: "The Conservatives are failing to make use of private sector capacity and patients are paying the price.
"No-one should be waiting in pain while hospital beds that could be used lie empty. The next Labour government will use spare capacity in the private sector to get patients seen faster."
'Significant progress' with waiting lists
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.”
The taskforce aims to form strong local relationships between NHS organisations and the independent sector, as part of the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan.
Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients Association, said: “We are advocates of patients having choice and welcome today’s announcement. In particular, the news that GPs will tell patients, at the point of referral, of options for treatment other than the local hospital or clinic.
"Patients in England already have a right to choose where they are treated but not all patients are aware of this right or exercise it. Our expectation is that once GPs offer patients a choice of where to receive treatment, more and more patients will choose to travel further to receive treatment if that means shorter waits.”
Justin Ash, CEO of Spire Healthcare said: “The best way to cut waiting times for patients is for the independent sector to be fully integrated as part of the solution, and to offer patient choice. We welcome the Elective Recovery Taskforce’s recognition of this and are pleased that it has recommended some bold and far-reaching steps to encourage collaboration, promote patient choice and engage the independent sector to help deliver the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
"The Taskforce’s work will genuinely benefit patients, who’ll be able to choose where they can receive treatment most quickly, regardless of whether that’s at an NHS or an independent sector hospital.”