NHS speeds up tests and brings them closer to home
BBCAn NHS centre has opened to bring patients faster access to vital tests closer to where people live.
The Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) in Portsmouth aims to speed up diagnosis and treatment.
It is part of the governments 10-year plan to relieve pressure on hospitals.
The community focused centre is a partnership between Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) and the company Alliance Medical (AML).
Carla Langton, a nurse director at PHU, said: "As we all know it is busy at the Queen Alexandra (QA) Hospital, so this is additional services for some of the diagnostics we offer.
"What it's meaning for our patients is that they are coming here as opposed to QA, that therefore is freeing up our services on the QA hospital site."
The Portsmouth CDC, which fully opens this month, will mean patients benefit from increased diagnostic capacity, with new services in the area including MRI and CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds.
Alongside the new services at the Rodney Road site in the city, it will deliver mammography and sleep study services.
It also provides phlebotomy (blood tests), cardiology, neurophysiology, lung function and audiology services from the building.
Peter Woollett, 84, has cancer. He was among the first patients to have a CT scan at the site.
He said the new facilities are "very nice" and added that "it's easy to find and the receptionists were really nice, it's absolutely excellent, the QA is very good but it's a very, very busy hospital and it is a lot busier than here".
One of the aims of the CDC is to help people access services closer to home.
The NHS says it will provide "modern diagnostic services, delivered using state-of-the-art technology and has been designed around patients and local need".
Diagnostic centres aim to simplify services and it plans to bring faster access to tests closer to where people live.
It is aiming to improve the patient experience and unlike attending hospital, parking is free.
By increasing the local diagnostic capacity, it aims to relieve pressure on the QA.
Annabel Hyslop, AML centre manager said: "We are in the middle of the community here and patients will be able to have multiple tests at any one time.
"So, they may come for a blood test followed by their CT scan and that enables patients to have a faster service and more diagnostic tests done in one time."
NHS England said CDCs and surgical hubs, plus new technology across NHS services, are already making a difference.
It is part of the strategy to reduce national wait times across England by making more appointments available.
Known as one-stop shops, because of the range of services they offer, patients can be referred via their GP or hospital clinical teams.
There are 170 CDCs across England and 31 in the South East.
Many are operating extended services opening 12 hours a day, seven days a week to give patients more convenient access to tests, scans, and checks outside of typical working hours.
