Plans revealed for new £10m community diagnostic centre for patients in Wigan borough

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay announced plans for seven new “one-stop shops” around the country, with one of those being based at Leigh Infirmary.

It will provide a range of diagnostic checks, scans and tests closer to home, including X-rays, CT and MRI scans, ultrasound, electrocardiogram heart monitoring tests, blood pressure monitoring, sleep studies and phlebotomy.

The new centre is expected to open in winter 2023.

Silas Nicholls, chief executive of Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted to announce our ambitious plan to develop and progress a £10m community diagnostic centre (CDC) at Leigh Infirmary. Formal approval is expected soon and once confirmed, we can start to progress with this exciting initiative.

“The new CDC, which is just one part of our plans to further invest in services at Leigh, will be an expansion of our current services and will provide a modern ‘one-stop shop’ diagnostics and healthcare facility. The CDC will increase the range of diagnostic tests available at Leigh and offer an increase in diagnostic capacity. This will improve access to diagnostics, supporting faster diagnosis and treatment, all of which is fantastic news for our patients.

“We already have CT and MRI scanning facilities at our Wrightington and Wigan sites, but now these services will also be available at Leigh. Bringing all these services together within a single centre, alongside the existing comprehensive endoscopy service at Leigh Infirmary, will support the development of new pathways to improve health outcomes, which can only be of benefit to our patients.”

CDCs reduce the number of hospital visits and cut waiting times for patients by diverting people away from hospitals, so staff can focus on treating urgent patients while the diagnostic centres focus on tackling the backlog for tests and checks.

The Government aims to open 160 community diagnostic centres across the country by 2025 to deliver nine million tests, checks and scans a year, with the programme backed by £2.3 billion of diagnostics investment.