A new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) is set to be launched in South Birmingham as part of government plans to use the independent sector to cut NHS waiting lists, Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay has announced.
The facility in Druids Heath is one of eight new independently run sector-led CDCs being launched, which will help to make it easier for patients to receive checks closer to home and will remain free at the point of use for patients.
Due to open in December 2023, the Centre in Druids Heath is part of the government’s ambition to open up to 160 across the country by 2025, backed by £2.3 billion. As well as being more convenient for patients, CDCs drive efficiency across the NHS by shielding elective diagnostic services from wider hospital pressures.
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.
Independent sector led centres will function like NHS-run CDCs, but staff will be employed by the independent sector, which also owns the buildings. By utilising independent sector staff, the NHS will be able to keep pace with rising demand in the region and deliver a high number of tests for patients.
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 Druid’s Heath CDC will be Birmingham’s second CDC, after the official launch of Washwood Heath CDC in July 2023 at Washwood Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre. The Washwood Heath CDC will see more than 45,000 patients each year benefit from the £2.18 million facility, which provides the latest cutting-edge diagnostic imaging technology for x-ray, MRI and ultrasound, alongside heart investigations and access to blood tests. Open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm, the Washwood Heath CDC provides convenient access and free parking for patients referred by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB).
There are currently 114 CDCs open across the country, which have delivered an additional 4.6 million tests, checks and scans since July 2021. Alongside this, significant progress has already been made to cut waiting lists, with 18-month and 2-year waits virtually eliminated.
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.”
NHS England National Clinical Director for Elective Care, Stella Vig, said: “Hardworking staff across the NHS have made significant progress towards recovering elective care, and it is testament to their efforts that widespread innovative measures are already being rolled out to transform our services and bring down the longest waits for patients.”