Diagnostic centre to open by end of the year
NWAFTA new community diagnostic centre should open in a city centre by the end of this year, NHS bosses hope.
Work to build the facility in central Peterborough was "advancing well", North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust's chief executive Hannah Coffey said in a report.
She said she expected the building in Wellington Street to be handed over to the trust in December, with the first patients due to be welcomed by the end of the year.
The centre will house ultrasound and X-ray facilities, MRI and CT scanners, and it is hoped it will help to reduce waiting times for patients.
"The centre represents a significant investment in modern healthcare infrastructure and will provide patients with more convenient access to high-quality diagnostic services, helping to deliver earlier diagnosis and better outcomes closer to home," the trust's chairman Prof Steve Barnett wrote.
The number of patients on the trust's diagnostic waiting list reduced to 19,700 in August, according to its latest board papers, although only about six in 10 patients were tested within the NHS target time of six weeks.
The trust hopes to improve this to 82.7% of patients by March.
There are about 170 community diagnostic centres in England and the government announced earlier this year it was investing £237m to open more of them.
Many of them operate in prominent locations such as university campuses, with shopping centres and football stadiums also being explored as potential bases.
Construction of the Peterborough site started in August last year.
The trust runs five hospitals across Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.
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