NHSPS has announced the completion of a new community diagnostic centre in Preston.
The investment comes from the NHS England Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) Programme – £1.6 million specifically allocated for NHS Property Services sites. The initiative aims to optimise existing freehold properties and land, create new diagnostic facilities and ‘ultimately deliver excellent patient care’.
This latest investment supports the development of a community diagnostic centre at a key location in Preston, with the project entailing significant enhancements to the existing infrastructure at Brookfield and Fulwood, plus the extension of Healthport to accommodate a new X-ray machine and two ultrasound rooms.
NHSPS says the project’s success has been made possible through the collaboration between key partners, including Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), and Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Trust and Lancashire Teaching Hospital (LTH), as well as Owen Ellis Architects and Sterling Construction, who led the design and construction work.
The organisation said: “The primary objective of the CDC project is to relocate diagnostic services from the hospital site to a community location. This move will relieve pressure on hospitals by freeing up space for increased bed capacity, and provide easier access to essential diagnostic services.”
Libby Doherty, NHSPS Senior Strategy manager, said: “This strategic investment exemplifies our dedication to delivering excellent patient care while ensuring value for money. We’re happy to say that the new CDC hub will enhance patient access to essential diagnostic services, reduce hospital pressures. and improve overall healthcare in the area.”
Alistair Rose, director of Strategic Estates, Infrastructure, and Sustainability at Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, said: “The ICB has a strategic vision for a high quality, community-centred health and care system by 2035. The opening of the Preston Healthport, to add to the portfolio of Community Diagnostic Centres in Lancashire and South Cumbria, brings us one significant step closer to achieving this vision.”
Jack Smith, director for the Lancashire and South Cumbria Diagnostics Collaborative, which oversees the implementation of CDCs, said: “On behalf of the LSC Diagnostics Collaborative, I am delighted to share that the Preston Healthport Community Diagnostics Centre is now fully operational after significant building works. This upgraded CDC facility will provide additional imaging, phlebotomy, and physiological measurement testing, helping to reduce patient waiting lists, and providing better outcomes for our patients.”
