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New centre for NHS tests 'will cut waiting times'

ULTH/NHS A hi-tech MRI scanner dominates a room in a NHS testing centre. The large machine is in two parts, with a platform, with mattress and pillow, on which the patient is positioned, and a large, cylindrical machine that houses the scanning technology.ULTH/NHS
The MRI scanner at the community diagnostic centre in Skegness

NHS bosses say a newly opened testing centre will help bring down waiting times.

The first patients have been welcomed to the £15m community diagnostic centre (CDC) in Skegness, Lincolnshire.

The facility has brought a number of NHS services to the town for the first time, including echocardiograms, which detect heart problems, and CT and MRI scanners.

Prof Karen Dunderdale, the chief executive of Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals Group, said: "We believe this to be the most significant NHS investment in Skegness in recent years."

ULTH/NHS More than 40 men and women, some wearing nursing uniforms, others in smart-casual clothes, stand on the stone steps of a new health centre, which has wood-clad walls and tall windows, as a woman prepares to cut a pink ribbon. ULTH/NHS
Staff at the opening of the Skegness CDC

She added: "The CDC will offer more choice and convenience to help reduce travel for patients, while increasing the number of appointments to help bring down waiting times for diagnostic tests."

CDCs are designed to offer patients quicker and easier access to tests away from main hospital sites, such as electrocardiograms, blood tests and ultrasounds.

Building work took shape over the summer, and the centre opened its doors at the end of November.

Bernard North, from Sutton on Sea, was one of the first patients to use the centre, in Old Wainfleet Road, when he attended for a CT scan.

He said: "My wife Rosalyn and I didn't realise this facility was here and thought it might be a mobile scanner, but this was fantastic."

ULTH/NHS A man and a woman stand outside a new NHS testing centre. The woman has short white hair and wears a light-brown jacket and cream pullover, while the man has short white hair, a white moustache and wears a blue checked shirt and a black fleece.ULTH/NHS
Mr North, who was accompanied by his wife, described his experience as "fantastic"

The NHS said about £42m had been invested in CDCs in Lincolnshire in 2024, including a £23m facility in Lincoln, which is due to open this month, and a £5m expansion of a centre in Grantham, which opened in March.

Prof Dunderdale said more than 118,000 tests had been carried out under the Lincolnshire CDC programme since it began in November 2021.

"We are very proud to be delivering new diagnostic services that we know will make a huge difference to the local community," she added.

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