Last Monday, Government announced the approval of a new Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) at the Community Hospital in Mansfield. It’s fantastic news, and another major investment in our local services.
The CDC, which will be built and up and running next year, will employ the latest technology to deliver MRI scans, CT scans, ultrasound scans, cardiology, X-rays, blood tests and respiratory examinations. Annually, this will help an estimated 117,000 patients to get the checks they need as soon as possible, with quicker and easier access to treatment if a diagnosis is made.
CDCs are part of the government’s ‘elective recovery’ initiative to reduce NHS waiting lists and backlogs. Ensuring the reduction of delays in treatment is a key priority for Government and the PM, so it’s good to see Mansfield directly benefitting from that commitment.
Over the last few years, I have worked with Lee Anderson MP to secure funding for our health service, and hospitals. We’ve seen a new mobile diagnostics hub at Kings Mill Hospital, which allows up to 10,000 extra patients to be seen per year and has helped to ease long waiting lists during the COVID pandemic. Additionally, I successfully campaigned for Targeted Lung Health Checks for over 46,000 people in Mansfield and Ashfield, which has been key in detecting lung cancer in its early stages and helping people get treatment.
Reduced waiting times are essential for improving the quality of care provided to patients, so it’s fantastic to hear that Mansfield has been selected as one of the 19 locations for a new
CDC. Along with the Autumn Budget’s £3.3 billion boost to the NHS, it demonstrates that the Government places huge importance on the delivery of high-standard care to those that
require it. When the Prime Minister set out his five priorities for 2023, reducing these backlogs was one of them, so it’s important we get this centre up and running to deliver for Mansfield.
I am excited to see the benefits that the new CDC will bring to Mansfield’s local residents and greatly support the Government’s ambition to provide diagnostic tests to 95% of patients who need them within 6 weeks by March 2025. I look forward to working with the Hospital Trust and partners to build a health and social care system that’s fit for the long term.
