The independent sector’s investment in community diagnostics centres (CDCs) has saved the NHS’s capital budget an estimated £110m.
This is according to health secretary Steve Barclay (pictured), who told the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) annual summit yesterday that government will have opened 160 CDCs by March – hitting its target a year early.
Barclay stated that 127 of these centres, which provide diagnostics for people in local communities at locations ranging from high streets, car parks or even football stadia, are already open.
He added government has moved the opening date of 40 CDCs bringing them forward into this year.
This will include locations in Sidcup, Halifax and Bognor Regis set to open in December. And last month NHS England confirmed the approval of four more community diagnostic centres – two in Wiltshire run by the independent sector, one in Thanet and one in Cheshire.
Right to request to be seen elsewhere
In his speech Barclay also revealed that as of the end of October patients in England who have been waiting more than 40 weeks for treatment will have the right to request to be seen elsewhere.
And if patients request to move, Integrated Care Boards must make every effort to find hospitals with shorter waiting lists within the NHS and across the independent sector.
Online dashboard
He added government will also be introducing an online dashboard on how CDCs are performing to make this information easily accessible. Also to be included will be details of new hospital builds and upgrades as well as a commitment to publish data on the number of MRI and CT scanners that are operational across the independent sector and the NHS.
AI
And touching on artificial intelligence, Barclay revealed AI will be deployed in every stroke centre by December in a bid to save an hour on diagnosis to improve patients’ outcomes.
Greatest success
Barclay said: “The elective recovery taskforce has achieved a lot, but perhaps its greatest success has been turbocharging the rollout of community diagnostic centres or CDCs – the one-stop shops where patients receive tests for conditions like cancer and heart disease.”
He added the independent sector has been key to this success.
“Thirteen CDCs will be run by the independent providers – eight are already operational and 22 CDCs are on the NHS estate using the independent sector’s diagnostic capabilities,” Barclay continued.
“The independent sector’s investment in CDCs has saved an estimated £110m from the NHS capital budget – money we can put straight back into services with a further seven community diagnostic centres giving patients better care and better value for money for the tax payer,” he added.