DIAGNOS TICS
First community diagnostic hub opens in Somerset
Community diagnostic hubs have the potential to make a significant difference to patients waiting for diagnostic imaging and will help reduce the backlog in the wake of the pandemic. The first of these hubs, which were a key recommendation of the ‘Richards Review’, has opened its doors.
In a major review of diagnostic services, titled ‘Diagnostics: Recovery and Renewal’,1 the former national cancer director, Professor Sir Mike Richards called for major expansion and reform of diagnostic services to facilitate recovery from the pandemic and to meet rising demand. In his review, he pointed out that activity has increased markedly across almost all aspects of diagnostics over the past five years, with notable increases in CT scanning (6.8% p.a.), MRI scanning (5.6% p.a.), PET-CT (18.7% p.a.), non-obstetric ultrasound (3.8% p.a.) and DEXA (4% p.a.). Plain X-ray is an exception, where annual growth has been less than 1%.1 In particular, he noted that demand for CT is likely to increase by at least 100% over the next five years. In 2017, the UK ranked lowest of 23 OECD countries in scanner provision. Comparison of CT scans per 10,000 population for 25 OECD countries in 2017 show that England’s activity would need to increase by 77% to reach the OECD average. This would mean an additional 4.4 million scans p.a. Investment in technology and facilities is urgently needed, therefore.
Other key recommendation of the report
included: l Acute and elective diagnostics should be separated wherever possible to increase efficiency.
l Acute diagnostic services (for A&E and inpatient care) should be improved so
The centre helps us to prioritise the capacity that we have available at Musgrove Park Hospital for emergency patients or those who are already in the hospital. This is not only good for our patients, but also the way we care for people across the whole Somerset healthcare system by enabling them to have
imaging scans away from the acute hospital. Peter Lewis, chief executive, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.
JANUARY 2022
that patients who require CT scanning or ultrasound from A&E can be imaged without delay. Inpatients needing CT or MRI should be able to be scanned on the day of request.
l Diagnostic services should be organised so that, as far as possible, patients only have to attend once and, where appropriate, they should be tested for COVID-19 before diagnostic tests are undertaken.
l Community diagnostic hubs should be established away from acute hospital sites and kept as clear of COVID-19 as possible.1
Building on this ambition, the first community diagnostics centre, run by the independent sector in partnership with the NHS, has opened its doors in Somerset. The state-of-the-art diagnostics centre will give patients increased access to diagnostic tests, which will inform their treatment and enable them to have their diagnostic tests in a stand-alone modern facility away from
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