More than 13,000 appointments since opening of county's first community diagnostic centre
A centre designed to take pressure of the county's emergency hospitals and provide quick access for medical tests has seen more than 13,000 patients since it opened.
The county’s first Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) is based at Hollinswood House in Telford, and offers appointments for pathology (blood tests) and radiology, providing extra capacity for non-urgent diagnostic testing.
Around £10.5 million of national funding was awarded for the conversion of the building to create the CDC.
The services at the centre are provided by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs the Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal Hospitals.
Since opening in October the phlebotomy team has processed more than 65,000 blood tests, and the radiology department, which includes the new MRI scanner, CT, ultrasound and X-ray, has so far seen over 4,500 patients.
There are plans to extend appointments in the radiology department to seven days a week this year to increase access to tests.
The MRI scanner was installed at the site in December and means patients have faster access to diagnostic MRIs.
Kim Pritchard was delighted to be the first patient to have an MRI scan.
She attended with her sister June, who also had an MRI appointment booked for the same day.
Kim said: “The staff were so helpful and talked me through the whole process which calmed my nerves as I didn’t know what to expect. I only live around 10 minutes away and it was so easy to get here. It is great to have this facility on our doorstep.”
Dr John Jones, Executive Medical Director at SaTH, said: “The purpose-built CDC provides the community with quicker access to tests and scans without the need to visit the hospital. The addition of the MRI scanner will lead to a faster diagnosis and will relieve the pressure on our hospitals.”
