£34m NHS investment includes new diagnostics building at Stratford Hospital

A NEW diagnostics building is to be opened at Stratford Hospital as part of a £34 million investment across Coventry and Warwickshire.

The community diagnostic centre (CDC) will be one of three created by the NHS with the aim of reducing waiting times, allowing patients, including those who may have cancer, to be seen quicker, find out what’s wrong and get the treatment they need.

Diagnostics at Stratford Hospital is already benefitting from new equipment installed last year for CT and MRI scans. However, in 2024 a dedicated building will be opened on the hospital site to bring the equipment into one area.

The other two CDCs will open in Coventry and Rugby, also in 2024. The Coventry facility will be in the city centre while the Rugby CDC will be opened at the Hospital of St Cross.

The NHS said the services offered at CDCs will be separate to urgent diagnostic test facilities which means hospitals can focus on treating urgent patients while the diagnostic centres focus on tackling the backlog for tests and checks.

Prior to the CDCs being built, some of the funding will be used to increase diagnostic capacity across Coventry and Warwickshire.

Glen Burley, chief executive officer South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stratford Hospital, said: “This extra funding will enable us to improve essential services as we expand the CDC next year.

“We are already seeing more patients in a quicker timeframe.

“The creation of CDCs has improved patients’ NHS experience by enabling them to be seen quicker and therefore increasing their chances of earlier diagnosis.”

Patients will be referred for diagnostic procedures at CDCs by their GP.

The funding from NHS England and Improvement was secured through a partnership involving Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, SWFT, and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.