On Wednesday 2 March Professor Sir Mike Richards visited St Helens Hospital for a tour of our Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), where he was shown how eight months after it launched, our centre is improving the diagnostic process for patients, including cancer patients.

Our CDC has carried out over 13,000 checks, scans, and tests so far, the highest number in the whole of the Northwest and was the first CDC in the country to be up and running.

Professor Sir Mike Richards, Clinical advisor on diagnostics for NHS England said: “I’ve had a fantastic day. I’ve seen all sorts of important innovation including for Colonoscopy, CT, MRI, and Urology that is improving pathways for patients. The emphasis for diagnostics now is to provide patients with a quick and efficient one-stop-shop service wherever possible and it is really impressive what is being done here in Cheshire and Merseyside.”

Ann Marr OBE, Chief Executive of St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust added: “We’ve enjoyed showing Sir Mike around our diagnostic facilities. We are now able to do a lot more one-stop-shop services so that people can visit once, go through all of the diagnostic tests they require and get a diagnosis at the end of the day. For those people who that isn’t possible for, we’re now able to link their appointments more effectively to ensure they also get a diagnosis much faster than they perhaps would have done in the past.”

Dr. David Levy, Medical Director for NHS England North West, said: “CDCs are already having a positive impact on the ability to get people tested across the North West, as well as aiding the NHS to get back on track with treatment backlogs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Community Diagnostic Centres will provide a source of valuable additional capacity for both existing cancer pathways and new services for patients with non-specific systems.