New Peterborough health centre to open to tackle backlogs created by COVID

A new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) to deliver life saving checks and scans will open in Peterborough in a bid to tackle a backlog created by the COVID pandemic.

The location for the centre has not yet been announced, but it will include MRI, CT and x-rays services.

The CDC is one of 19 opening alongside the country, as the Government also announced a new health taskforce.

Minister for Health Will Quince said: “We are relentlessly focussed on tackling waiting lists and busting the Covid backlogs and this new taskforce will bring together experts from across the healthcare system.

“Doing so will ensure we’re using all the capacity available to us to improve care across the NHS and independent sector, and give patients more autonomy over when and where they are treated.”

NHS England National Director of Elective Recovery Sir James Mackey said: “NHS staff are working incredibly hard to tackle the Covid backlog at a time of immense pressure on the health service with significant progress already made – virtually eliminating two year waits for care - and it’s vital that we continue to support staff to deliver for patients.

“By maximising opportunities to deliver even more life-saving checks and tests, building on the successes of increasing use of the independent sector since the pandemic, we can speed up diagnoses and continue to bring down waiting lists for routine care.”

There are currently 91 CDCs already operating across the country, and new data shows the one-stop shops, backed by £2.3 billion in government funding, have delivered over 2.4 million tests, checks and scans since July 2021.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “The NHS is facing an unprecedented challenge to tackle covid backlogs.

“Hardworking staff have made strong progress but I want to turbocharge our current plans to bust the backlog and help patients get the treatment they need.

“The taskforce will look at sensible steps to utilise all existing capacity to slash waiting lists while ensuring the NHS always remains free at the point of use.”