The UK government's Department of Health and Social Care has expanded the opening hours for Community Diagnostics Centres (CDCs) to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The national Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) Programme has been running for a few years. This change affects over 100 of these facilities.
The concept with this change is to allow patients to more easily fit appointments in around a working day.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “From early morning MRI scans to late evening blood tests, we’re meeting patients where they need it most by extending the operating hours for community diagnostic centres and putting patients first.”
Delivering care “out of hours” also means tens of thousands of patients can access tests, scans and checks.
The government’s new “Plan for Change”, which include the NHS’s 10 Year Health Plan, is backed by £6bn over 5 years. £600m of this is committed for 2025 to 2026 to transform diagnostic services, including funding for up to 5 additional CDCs.
Delivering care “out of hours” also means tens of thousands of patients can access tests, scans and checks
Looking at the fruit of these efforts, the latest NHS England data shows that the NHS delivered over 1.6 million more tests and scans from July 2024 to June 2025 compared to the preceding period.
For cancer, the NHS also hit the highest Faster Diagnosis Standard June level since the standard was introduced in April 2021. The translates as 76.8% - or 218,463 people - having cancer ruled out or diagnosed within 28 days.
Improved performance on the Faster Diagnosis Standard means that nearly 100,000 (97,000) more people have had cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between July 2024 and June 2025, compared to the preceding period.
Some examples of the impact of the CDC programme:
- For example, Oldham CDC has slashed lung cancer diagnosis times from 42 days to just 18.8 days, meeting the Faster Diagnosis Standard for the first time.
- Queen Victoria Hospital CDC in East Grinstead now delivers five times more respiratory patient interactions per session, with 92% avoiding hospital outpatient appointments entirely.
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England National Medical Director, added: “The services provided by community diagnostic centres enable people to receive the all-clear or a diagnosis at a time and location that suits them - whether before a school drop-off or after a work shift - and extending their opening hours means more people are being seen more quickly.