Community diagnostics centres and digital solutions feature high in NHSE capital guidance diagnostics programme

NHS England’s Capital guidance 2023/24 includes details of steps which ICBs and providers are being asked to take in relation to NHS national capital programmes including diagnostics. Community diagnostics centres (CDCs) are central to this programme, with the guidance noting that 134 of these have now been approved by NHSE, 89 of which are operational. ICBs are being encouraged to look to partnerships with the independent sector to deliver these and the overarching diagnostics programme also focuses on increasing digital capabilities in relation to a number of elements. 

The guidance asks ICBs to focus on workforce plans to ensure the diagnostic programme delivers a number of headline outcomes including: 

• Waiting times - diagnostic activity to exceed pre-pandemic levels to remove elective and cancer backlogs, prioritising performance improvement measures to reduce the number of patients waiting longer than six weeks to under 5% by March 2025;
• Operational CDCs - at least one large or standard CDC operational before March 2025 – the guidance emphasises that partnerships with the independent sector are encouraged and notes that systems will have access to dedicated revenue funding to set up and run CDCs;
• Endoscopy – focus on transformation strategies in relation to endoscopy, including locating endoscopy services in large CDCs;
• Digital pathology and imaging - pathology and imaging networks to reach ‘maturing’ status for delivery of services by the end of 2024/25, and deliver a minimum 10% improvement in pathology and imaging service productivity by March 2025 through digital diagnostic investments; 
• Digitally connected imaging – capital allocations to be used to provide additional digitally connected capacity including all acute sites to have a minimum of two CT scanners. ICBs to collaborate with imaging networks on imaging research and development and integration of artificial intelligence;
• Aged diagnostic equipment – use operational capital to work towards eliminating the backlog of diagnostic equipment over 10 years old by the end of 2024/25.

The focus on increasing NHS diagnostics capacity overall and improving methods of delivery, for example via digital solutions, is crucial to enable NHS providers and systems as a whole to move forward with both short-term priorities, such as decreasing the elective backlog, and longer-term goals to deliver improved outcomes for patients at better value to the healthcare system. 

We are working on a range of CDC projects with clients across both the public and private sector looking to progress the partnerships being encouraged within the NHSE guidance and deliver increased and enhanced diagnostics capacity for their local systems. To find out more, please consider attending our roundtable format webinar – ‘Delivering community diagnostics centres: lessons learned from the early schemes and where next?’ on 14 March 2023, which will feature panel speakers involved in these projects exploring their experiences to date.