The NHS in Coventry and Warwickshire has recently secured £34 million in funding for three Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) across the local area.
The investment from NHS England and Improvement aims to boost local health services and further support the reduction of diagnostic waiting times.
Three local local CDCs including Warwickshire North, South Warwickshire and Coventry will receive a cash injection designed to help patients to be seen quicker, with the hope of ultimately leading to quicker diagnoses.
Warwickshire North CDC will be granted further expansion of services as a result of the funding, including diagnostic tests for cancer and new CT and MRI scanners.
Meanwhile, South Warwickshire CDC has introduced new diagnostic equipment over the last year, which has increased access to CT and MRI scans. A dedicated building will be opened on the hospital site in 2024 to co-locate the new equipment.
Coventry CDC is also set to open in 2024 and will be made up of two parts, split between Coventry and Rugby. A CDC is to be developed in the centre of Coventry in order to help patients benefit from transport links; the facility is set to provide patients with “easier access to a range of diagnostic services as well as cancer diagnostic pathways”.
Rugby will see a new Endoscopy Unit opened in order to increase capacity for CT and ultrasound services.
In addition to the CDCs, part of the funding will be used to increase diagnostic capacity in the short term, whilst the CDCs are under construction. Since October 2021, over 73,000 additional diagnostic tests have been delivered across the system due to the CDC investment.
Funding was secured through a partnership involving Coventry and Warwickshire ICB, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
