New community diagnostics centres announced for Medway and Swale

The Department for Health and Social Care has given approval for the creation of a Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) hub at Sheppey Community Hospital, and a CDC spoke site at Rochester Healthy Living Centre.

Both sites will provide a range of new diagnostic services, including CT scans, MRIs, ECGs and x-rays; and will significantly improve the accessibility of these services to patients.

Work is due begin in the spring of 2023 with new services being introduced over a two-year period, working towards achieving a seven-day, 12-hour-a-day service by 2025.

The focus of the CDC project in Kent and Medway is to increase the capacity of diagnostic services to meet the needs of the local population, ensuring everyone has equal access to services, and to reduce their travel times.

Medway and Swale has some of the highest levels of deprivation in the UK with some wards being in the top 20 per cent most deprived areas in the country. Ensuring there is an increased diagnostic capacity, including both equipment and staff, in these areas will help to reduce health inequalities, and support the NHS’s recovery from the impact Covid-19 has had on its services and waiting lists.

The opening of the Community Diagnostic Centre sites in Medway and Swale also provides the NHS with the opportunity to change the way patients can access a range of diagnostic services. Making the process easier, and more streamlines for clinicians and patients.

Nikki Teesdale, Director of Delivery for the Medway and Swale Health and Care Partnership said: “A lot of work has been carried out to develop and refine the model for the Medway and Swale’s CDC plan – with our focus being on reducing health inequalities.

Our Health and Care Partnership (HCP) covers a wide geographic area, and we have used public health data to identify two sites, which will ensure we can provide diagnostic services to those who are most in need.

The CDCs will support the delivery of rapid diagnostic services and will play an important part in delivering faster and earlier diagnosis, and improved patient experience and outcomes. CDC’s will bring together the latest diagnostic equipment and expertise. They will also complement work to improve cancer screening programmes, improving early diagnosis and clinical outcomes.”

Jayne Black, Chief Executive at Medway NHS Foundation Trust has said: “I am delighted with the news that our Community Diagnostic Centre has had national funding approval. All part of the NHS across Kent and Medway are committed to providing the best possible care for the populations we serve, and the news this week will allow us to deliver a better and more personalised diagnostic experience for patients by providing a single point of access to a range of diagnostic services in the community.”