King's Mill Hospital to pioneer new one-stop shop diagnosis centre

The Government has announced funding for 40 centres in community locations across the country, from shopping centres to football stadiums – including four in the East Midlands, in Leicester, Grantham, Derbyshire and at King’s Mill.

The aim of the scheme – which will offer services such as X-rays, ultrasound, breast screening and bone density scans – is to give patients speedier diagnoses and reduce hospital visits to cut the risk of coronavirus transmission and reduce the pressure on hospitals.

At King’s Mill, new units on site, separate from the main hospital building, are set to offer CT scans and endoscopy services, with the aim of seeing up to 10,000 extra patients a year.

Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said: “Rapid diagnosis will save lives and these one-stop shops for checks, scans and tests in the heart of communities will not only make services more accessible and convenient for patients, but also help us improve outcomes for patients with cancer and other serious conditions, ultimately sparing more people the pain and trauma of disease.

“NHS staff have continued to provide routine care, throughout the pandemic, alongside treating about 450,000 seriously ill Covid patients in hospital, and the roll-out of these community diagnostic centres will help us spot problems sooner, when they are easier to treat.”

Review

The idea was recommended by Prof Sir Mike Richards, NHS cancer director, who conducted a review of diagnostic services.

He said: “The pandemic brought into sharper focus the need to overhaul the way we deliver diagnostic services, so I am delighted to see one of the key recommendations of my report becoming a reality so quickly.”

The Government said the centres will achieve:

Earlier diagnoses through easier and faster direct access to diagnostic tests needed to understand patients’ symptomsy; A reduction in hospital visits which will help reduce the risk of Covid transmission; A reduction in waits by diverting patients away from hospitals, allowing them to treat urgent patients, while the CDCs focus on tackling the backlog; A contribution to the NHS’ net zero ambitions by providing multiple tests at one visit, reducing patient journeys and helping cut carbon emissions and air pollution.

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