NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board (ICB) has opened the doors to a new community diagnostic centre (CDC), in a move to bring care closer to home.
The new centre, located next to Camborne Redruth Community Hospital, will give residents faster access to NHS tests and scans and is expected to benefit thousands of patients.
Services provided include X-rays, MRI and CT scans, blood tests, ECGs, respiratory checks and endoscopy services.
It hopes to facilitate faster diagnoses, reduced waiting times and less travel to hospital sites, as part of the shift from hospital to neighbourhood.
Minister of state for health, Karin Smyth MP said the centre is ‘is exactly what we want to do as part of our ten-year health plan’.
‘We’ve specifically talked about the needs of rural and coastal communities and bringing care closer to you the patients and to the public,’ she said.
‘We know that the health service has got a long way to go to get back to those standards we all expect but centres like this, seeing people more quickly, more conveniently, are a key part of that.’
Susan Bracefield, acting chief executive for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board, said: ‘Last year, more than 96,000 tests such as MRI scans, blood tests and ultrasounds were carried out at our CDCs in Bodmin and Penzance.
‘This new centre at Redruth means even more patients can benefit from faster diagnoses, shorter waiting times and improved access to treatment.’
Juliet Ferris, place director for West Cornwall’s Integrated Neighbourhood Team, said the new CDC is ‘a great example of how we’re joining up services in the community so people can get the right care, in the right place, at the right time and supports a stronger, more connected local health system’.
The new centre is delivered by as part of a partnership between the ICB and InHealth, with support from landowners NHS Property Services.
Richard Mackay, managing director, South, NHS Property Services, added: ‘As the landowners, we have worked closely with NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB, West Cornwall’s Integrated Neighbourhood Team and InHealth to bring this new Centre to fruition and provide services closer to home for local people who need tests for potentially serious conditions.’
