Lawrence Hill could get new NHS centre as part of huge regeneration scheme

Lawrence Hill could get a new NHS centre as part of a major expansion plan. With local community backing, the area could see a Community Diagnostic Centre included in the regeneration scheme.

A CDC is one of the ideas proposed as part of a wider regeneration plan to create a new town centre and an estimated 1,500 new homes in Lawrence Hill. The proposals are in their consultation stage but if approved, such a site could be constructed next to the Lidl supermarket within a few years.

CDC’s offer patients a range of diagnostic tests including blood tests, X-rays and MRI scans. Their aim is to help patients get tested and diagnosed faster than by going to their GP or local hospital.

A similar NHS community facility opened in April 2024 in Asda in Cribbs Causeway and is run in partnership between North Bristol NHS Trust and independent healthcare provider InHealth. The national Community Diagnostic Centre programme began three years ago and NHS England has recently announced plans to expand the existing programme.

Campaigning group Healthwatch recently surveyed patients using diagnostic facilities in England and found that 93 per cent reported having a positive experience. But concerns have been raised over staffing shortages, financial pressures and the level private sector involvement in the programme.

GP Dr Nick Mann, from Keep our NHS Public, has criticised the scheme for its reliance on the private sector. Speaking of the programme introduced by the Conservatives in 2012, he said: “The Government is openly ready to invest funding in the private sector that should be far better spent in building back the capacity of the NHS.”

A report from the Kings Fund in 2023 highlighted the high up-front costs in building new buildings away from existing hospital facilities and the risks involved in using space let by private landlords.

And the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Diagnostics’ report released in January 2024 found only five million scans were completed under the scheme against a target of 17 million by 2025. The Royal College of Radiology found that 89 per cent of CDCs are staffed with existing trust employees which risked ‘diluting’ staff capacity overall.

As of August 2024, 165 sites are operational in a variety of settings around the country, including shopping centres, university campuses and football stadiums.

NHS England announced in September that new investment in acute imaging and endoscopy services could result in the delivery of ‘up to 9 million tests per year by the end of 2024/25'.