31 October 2023

Patients across Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin are already seeing the benefits of a new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) which opened its doors earlier this month.

A total of 2,230 blood tests and 1,045 scans were carried out at the CDC in the first four weeks.

The new facility, located at Hollinswood House in Telford, means that patients who need non-urgent diagnostic tests or blood tests no longer need to go to a hospital for them.

Services are being provided by teams from The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) and are being opened in three phases.

The ground floor was the first area to open on Monday 2 October, providing blood tests and scans. Next month, an MRI scanner will arrive and cardio-respiratory tests and tele-dermoscopy will be introduced in January.

Around £10.5 million of national funding has been awarded for the conversion of Hollinswood House to create the CDC, which will help to reduce waiting times.

Sara Biffen, Acting Chief Operating Officer at SaTH, said: “The Community Diagnostic Centre has only been open for a matter of weeks, but it is already making a real difference for our communities.

“Our teams have received really positive feedback from patients, with many commenting on the excellent service, state-of-the-art facilities and easy parking.

“Now that elective diagnostic tests can be delivered away from our acute hospital sites and separately from urgent diagnostic procedures, it will help to reduce waiting times for non-urgent tests.”

Alison Bussey, Chief Nursing Officer for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said: “Thanks to this exciting new development and the hard work of staff across the local health and care system, we are able to provide more patients with the tests and scans they need more quickly.

“This, in turn, means they can be diagnosed and treated sooner, or their minds put at ease if results are clear.

“I would like to encourage patients to help us keep up this momentum by continuing to make use of this fantastic new facility.”

Councillor Paul Watling, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Systems, said: “We are really excited to see that thanks to the newly-opened Community Diagnostic Centre in our borough, our residents can get faster access to much-needed tests and scans and avoid as much as possible going to the hospital for these.

“Our council will continue to work together with the local NHS to expand the services offered by this facility so as to provide more residents with the care they need without delay.”

If patients require a blood test, they can book it at www.sath.nhs.uk/bloodtests or by calling the booking line on 01743 492510, Monday to Friday from 9am-4pm, excluding weekends and bank holidays.

The CDC is located at Hollinswood House at Hollinswood Court on the edge of Stafford Park 1, Telford, and is open to patients across Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.

In addition to the CDC, final preparations are being made for a new renal dialysis unit at Hollinswood House. The unit will be for low-risk patients transferring from Princess Royal Hospital, Telford.