News
New Lincoln Community Diagnostic Centre built by MTX opens to patients
Patients are now benefiting from the creation of a new £23 million Lincoln Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) handed over by MTX Contracts. The CDC is one of two new community centres built by MTX concurrently in Lincoln and Skegness using modern methods of construction. To create the new facilities for United
Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (ULTH) precisely engineered structural steel modules were factory-manufactured off-site while groundworks were under way to create the foundations at the two sites. Mechanical and electrical services were manufactured as modules where appropriate to speed up the construction process and reduce costs. A total of 71 off-site manufactured structural units
were craned into place to create the two buildings – 42 in Lincoln and 29 at Skegness. Employing MMC enables MTX to deliver fully compliant high-quality facilities for NHS Trusts faster, safer, greener and more cost effectively, compared with conventional
building techniques. Work progressed at a rapid pace to fit out and equip the state-of-the-art facilities for their specialist roles. Lincoln CDC, located on Lincoln Science and Innovation Park offers a range of diagnostic services, including X-ray, MRI, CT and non-obstetric ultrasound. It has dedicated facilities to support the training of future radiographers, with ULTH becoming one of the first NHS Trusts in the country to link directly with a school of radiography at the University of Lincoln. The Skegness facility on Old Wainfleet Road
brought a number of NHS diagnostic services to the town for the first time, including state-of-the art CT and MRI scanners, echocardiograms and dental X-ray. Services available at Skegness CDC include non-obstetric ultrasound and a range of physiological testing, such as blood tests for adults and children over the age of five, standard ECGs and 24-hour blood pressure testing. Blood testing for chemotherapy patients is also available, in the first step to develop a chemotherapy service from the site. Professor Karen Dunderdale, Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals Group Chief Executive, said: “We are very proud to be delivering new diagnostic services that we know will make a huge difference to the local community. The CDCs 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.”
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Frontline NHS staff facing rise in physical violence
1 in 7 NHS staff (14.38%) experienced physical violence from patients, their relatives or other members of the public, in 2024, according to the latest annual NHS staff survey. The report reveals attacks on staff have
increased since 2023 (13.88%) – though numbers are below the record levels seen between 2020 to 2022 during and following the pandemic. Staff experiencing discrimination at work
reached its highest level in 5 years (9.25%), with more than half (54.09%) saying the discrimination they received from patients and the public was based on their ethnic background. 1 in 12 (8.82%) NHS workers experienced unwanted sexual behaviour – including offensive comments, touching and assault. The proportion of staff affected remains similar to the level reported in 2023 (8.79%) when the question was first asked. The national education and training survey, which has also now been published, found that 13% of learners experienced or witnessed unwanted, harmful or inappropriate sexual behaviour by patients. The NHS launched a new national sexual misconduct policy framework in October to ensure NHS Trusts had robust policies in place to allow NHS staff to report incidents of sexual misconduct anonymously.
74,000 cancer patients not treated on time in 2024
New analysis has shown that last year, 74,000 cancer patients didn’t start their treatment on time. With an ageing and growing population, the challenge facing cancer services is only set to increase. There will be around 2.2 million new cancer cases diagnosed in the UK over the current parliamentary term – that’s over 20% more cases than in the previous parliamentary term. Over 50 other charities have come together as
‘One Cancer Voice’ to call on the UK Government to equip the NHS to tackle cancer waiting times in England. The NHS in England aims to begin treatment for 85% of cancer patients within 62 days of an urgent referral. But the proportion of patients in England starting cancer treatment within this timeframe has plummeted over the last decade, from 83.9% in 2014 to 62.2% in 2024. This was a small improvement from 2023, when only 60.1% of patients were treated on time. “Seventy-four thousand cancer patients waited longer than they should to start their treatment
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go, and the UK Government must act.” There has also been a rise in the number of
last year. Behind every one of these numbers is a family member, friend or loved one facing unbelievable stress and anxiety, where every day can feel like forever,” said Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive. “Hardworking NHS staff are doing their best and, last year, we saw a slight improvement in cancer waiting times from the year before. However, there is still a long way to
‘long-waiters’ over the last decade – people waiting over 104 days to begin their treatment following an urgent suspected cancer referral. Analysis showed more than 1 in 10 cancer patients (11.3%) faced having to wait more than 104 days in 2024 – nearly twice as long as the 62-day target. Cancer type can also impact how long people wait for their treatment. For example, almost 6 in 10 (56.0%) patients with lower gastrointestinal cancers, like bowel and anal cancer, were treated within 62 days in 2024, and around 6 in 10 (59.1%) lung cancer patients. “The National Cancer Plan can be a turning point for cancer patients across England, but the UK Government must invest in staff and equipment, alongside reforms, if it’s to hit all cancer waiting time targets by the end of this parliament. It’s the least that cancer patients deserve,” concluded Mitchell.
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