The North Bristol Community Diagnostic Centre at Cribbs Causeway is now fully open, bringing faster access to scans and tests.
The centre, next to Asda, offers a range of radiology, endoscopy and health screening services in a convenient location.
It is run as a partnership between North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and independent healthcare provider InHealth and is their biggest Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), and one of the largest in the country.
An official opening event was held at the centre today (Thursday, 14 November) to mark the occasion, bringing together partners and staff to celebrate.
The CDC is one of five procured by the NHS in the South West under a partnership deal with InHealth, at an annual cost of around £30m. Two other CDCs are already operational, at Weston-super-Mare and Torbay, with the final two under construction at Yeovil and Redruth. Mobile units have been used to provide scans during construction of the permanent buildings.
The South West strategy of offering more diagnostics from community and accessible sites means hospitals will be able to focus more on complex cases and on urgent and emergency care, with less chance that patients have their appointments postponed at times of high demand.
Diagnostic tests were first offered at the North Bristol CDC next door to the building in mobile units in the car park from April this year, with most services being offered in the permanent centre since September. Endoscopy has now moved into the centre completing the transition.
Since April there have been more than 11,000 appointments at the Cribbs Causeway site.
North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) Joint Chief Executive, Maria Kane, led proceedings for the opening.
She said: “North Bristol Community Diagnostic Centre is a fantastic facility that is really improving access to scans and diagnostic tests for our local population.
“We have received great feedback from patients who have already benefited from the ease and convenience of the centre and its impact on waiting times.
“We are proud to be working in partnership with InHealth to deliver outstanding patient care, enabling people to access the tests they need sooner so that they can either start the treatment they require or be reassured that no further care is required.
“Thank you and well done to everyone who has been involved in setting up and delivering this service.”
Geoff Searle, Chief Executive of InHealth, said: “We’re delighted to have marked the official opening of North Bristol CDC today - this is one of more than 20 InHealth CDCs that InHealth has created in partnership with the NHS – the largest that we have created so far - and we’re proud to have worked in partnership with NBT to provide key clinical services to the local population through this new centre.
“Across our nationwide network of CDCs, we’ve seen the real difference and positive impact that centres like these can bring for patients, focussed on improving health outcomes, so it’s fantastic to be doing that here in Bristol. It really epitomises the essence of what CDCs are all about – taking high quality healthcare services and putting them in the heart of communities, supporting health inequalities and giving local people much easier access outside of hospital settings.”
David Jarrett, Chief Delivery Officer at NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB, said: “We are really pleased to celebrate the official opening of the North Bristol Community Diagnostic Centre, one of two facilities in our area helping to give local people faster access to high quality diagnostic services.
“Supporting local people to receive faster diagnosis and treatment is a key aim for our local health system, and this state-of-the-art facility plays a significant role in enabling us to achieve that aim.
“My thanks go to all involved in bringing this service forward, as well as the people who will deliver outstanding care at the facility for years to come.”
Dr Michael Marsh, NHS England South West Medical Director, said: “It’s a real privilege to see the opening of the new CDC. It’s a key building block in our programme to diagnose people more quickly and conveniently across the South West – and you can’t get much more convenient than Cribbs Causeway.
“By early 2025, we’ll be offering 200,000 more scans a year in units outside busy main hospitals, freeing them up to focus more on emergency care as well as bringing down waiting lists.”