Rishi Sunak has pledged to reduce NHS waiting lists as he visited a new clinic aimed at streamlining patients’ treatment.
The Prime Minister visited the Oldham Community Diagnostic Center (CDC), where patients can go for tests, scans and check-ups more quickly after a referral from their GP, pharmacist or hospital.
The center is one of 150 CDCs being rolled out across the country to accelerate diagnosis and treatment of patients in community settings rather than through multiple hospital visits.
Mr Sunak said: “At the start of the year I made five promises to the country, one of which was to reduce waiting lists, and I’m here today to see this fantastic community diagnostic center in Oldham helping us to do exactly dat – shorten the waiting list.
“These centers bring together all the different tests, checks and scans that people need, getting them out of hospitals, closer to people’s homes in the community, giving them easier and faster access to that treatment.
“It really works. It makes a big difference in reducing waiting lists and that is why we are rolling out almost 150 across the country.”
The center in Oldham opened in December last year and so far the existing 92 CDCs have performed more than three million potentially life-saving checks, tests and scans in England since July 2021, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The DHSC added that the centers have helped “virtually eliminate” the number of patients waiting more than two years for treatment and reduced 18-month waiting times by more than 50%.
The department announced Monday that it will open 19 new CDCs this year, which it says will help tens of thousands of patients across England.
The additional centers are said to perform 1.1 million tests, checks and scans each year.
But according to an analysis by The King’s Fund last October, only one in five operational CDCs was actually “in the community.”
Ministerial commitments to bring NHS diagnostic facilities “closer to where people live” were called into question after it emerged that 47 of the 92 CDCs in operation were in an existing healthcare facility.
The King’s Fund found that only 17 of the sites were in the “community” – such as in shopping malls or football stadiums – while others were on existing hospital or GP practice sites.
The DHSC said on Monday that CDCs have already helped reduce NHS backlogs, adding that in November last year the centers were providing about 5% of all diagnostic activity.
The CDCs house an array of equipment, including MRI, CT, X-ray, and ultrasound scanners, and offer services including blood tests or heart rhythm and blood pressure monitoring.
The government has pledged £2.3 billion for the launch of up to 160 of the centers by March 2025.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Rapid diagnosis provides reassurance to patients, reduces waiting lists and, crucially, saves lives.
“CDCs have been fundamental to this effort, delivering more than three million additional tests that help diagnose conditions from cancer to lung disease more quickly across the country.”
Sir James Mackey, NHS National Director for Elective Restoration, said: “The NHS’s ambitious Elective Restoration Plan, published just over a year ago, had these innovative one-stop-shops at its core.
“These 19 new centers will improve access for tens of thousands of patients and build on the great work of NHS staff in restoring services, enabling the NHS to deliver an additional nine million tests a year by 2025 – an increase in capacity of more than a quarter on pre-pandemic level.”
The CDCs are part of the elective recovery plan set up by the government and the NHS to restore NHS services and give patients more control over their own health.
Dozens of new operating rooms are also being created to reduce waiting times.