The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has set out plans for Hull’s upcoming Community Diagnostic Centre as the Government looks to cut NHS waiting lists.
The £14m Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) on Albion Street is set to open this summer, streamlining the city’s healthcare by allowing patients to receive treatments such as MRI scans, X-rays, and CT scans without the need of a hospital appointment. Instead, GPs can send patients straight to the CDC to get the treatment they need.
The push for CDCs is one aspect of the Government’s new plan to tackle the record long NHS waiting lists. With 7.5 million on waiting lists, the newly announced Elective Reform Plan sets out the Government’s aim to hit an 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament.
NHS England says the aims of CDCs include:
- improved population health outcomes
- increased diagnostic capacity
- improved productivity and efficiency
- reduction in health inequalities
- improved patient experience
A key aspect of CDCs is convenience, the Prime Minister told the LDRS: “Because it will be open seven days a week, twelve hours a day, people don’t have to take time off work, which is obviously a big issue for people.”
Mr Starmer added that: “By putting it in Albion Street we are signalling that we want it to be convenient, it’s in the city centre. People may go in [to the city centre] for other reasons and they can go and get their tests or scans whilst doing other things.”
The Prime Minister also stated his desire to give more power to GPs. This would allow people to get more treatments at their local GP surgery without the need of travelling to the nearest hospital or CDC. Mr Starmer told the LDRS: “We do want to roll that out, empowering GPs. There’s a bit more work to do on that, we’ve got to get the GPs to agree with the way we want to do it so that people can go to their local GPs and not have to go any further.”
Construction of the new Albion Street centre, which the Prime Minister said “is a big project for Hull”, is well underway ahead of its opening this summer. The construction work is being done by VINCI Construction Ltd as a part of contractual agreements with Hull City Council
The new CDC is a part of the wider Albion Square development which is set to change the face of much of Hull’s city centre. In addition to the new CDC, the mixed-use development will add over 200 new homes, an array of retail space, and an urban garden to the city centre.
Construction of the wider project is continuing into 2025 ahead of its planned completion in 2026. The city council recently announced that a major milestone had been reached in the project as the scaffolding on the old BHS building is to be taken down in the coming weeks as the building has now been cleared of asbestos.
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
