Julian welcomed the news that a new community diagnostic centre (CDC) will open at Ripon Community Hospital in December 2023.
The permanent state-of-the-art diagnostic centre will be capable of delivering 27,107 checks, tests and scans every year. These include Ultrasound, X-ray, Audiology, Phlebotomy, Spirometry, ECG and blood pressure monitoring, as well as additional diagnostic services tailored to meet the needs of the community.
This latest announcement comes on the back of the recent news that the Government has committed to rebuilding Airedale Hospital by 2030 as part of the New Hospital Programme, backed up by over £20 billion in Government funding.
Cutting waiting times is one of the Government’s top priorities. Since the September 2021 peak of almost 125,000 patients waiting more than 18 months, the latest official NHS England statistics show that this had been reduced by over 91 per cent by the end of March this year.
The Ripon CDC will play a major role in cutting waiting lists further locally, with a particular emphasis on cutting elective and cancer backlogs, as well as pre and post op testing. The Government’s target is that, by March 2025, 95 per cent of patients needing a diagnostic test will receive it within 6 weeks.
