The public will be able to access a range of diagnostic tests closer to home, reducing the need to come into hospital and reducing waiting times. The centre – which will start to offer some services to the public this winter and be fully operational by March 2024 for various health checks, scans, and tests.
Director of Strategic Development at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Ivan McConnell, said: “We welcome the announcement of this funding. Our priority will always be to provide our patients with excellent standards of care – and we believe that moving some diagnostic services out into the community will allow us to do that.
“Our plans for Grimsby are at a very early stage and we will be working with our partners in Primary Care, Community healthcare and North East Lincolnshire Council to open this new facility in the town centre. It will enable us to offer patients a range of tests including X-rays, ultrasound, and blood tests.”
Patients will be referred to the centre by their GP or consultant, and it will operate in parallel to our diagnostic department at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital.
This will allow us to conduct an estimated 115000 additional checks every year, enabling us to see more patients, more quickly, reducing waiting times and helping you to access the care you need in a timelier way.
This is not only more convenient for patients but is also more efficient for staff and frees up clinician time to help further cut the waiting lists.
Helen Kenyon, North East Lincolnshire Place Director, NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, said: “We are very excited about the plans and benefits of this development and the benefits that this will bring to people who live in North East Lincolnshire.”
“One of the biggest benefits of having these new diagnostic tests offered in the Town Centre is that patients will no longer need to come to busy hospital sites to have the tests and checks that they need. Not only are there excellent public transport links to the Town Centre, there are also multiple parking facilities which frees up parking spaces for those who do need to come to the hospital.
“Reducing the number of people coming to our acute hospital sites naturally reduces the risk of spreading infections which is an added benefit”.
Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Councillor Phillip Jackson, added: “This is great news for people living in North East Lincolnshire and another positive note for the Grimsby town centre backing the plans to build a new future.
“This development will have a massive impact on residents’ access to critical health services, further improving health and wellbeing for thousands of people.”
The scheme in Grimsby will run alongside the Community Diagnostic Centre being built in Scunthorpe, set to start offering services later this year, which is part of a national move to bring close and more convenient care to thousands of patients.
The latest development was announced by Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay who said:
“These new centres will benefit tens of thousands of patients, cutting out unnecessary hospital visits and delivering closer, more convenient care.
“Patients will be able to access a range of life-saving tests, speeding up the diagnosis of illnesses like cancer and heart disease.
“We have already made significant progress in bringing down waiting lists – one of the government’s top five priorities – and community diagnostic centres are a key part of this, with over four million vital checks delivered so far.”
