New facilities offer health tests closer to home
More options for east Kent residents who need diagnostic tests will be available later this year when a new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) opens, as part of a new Thanet health hub.
The Thanet CDC, located at the Carey building, in Northwood Road, Broadstairs, will initially offer a range of diagnostics, including MRI, phlebotomy, respiratory and echocardiogram (ECHO), bringing further capacity, resilience and sustainability to diagnostic services across east Kent.
While building work is underway, a mobile MRI unit is being set up temporarily in the car park at Victoria Hospital in Deal, to offer an alternative option to residents needing diagnostic tests, and reducing the requirement for patients to travel to the QEQM Hospital in Margate. The unit has arrived at Deal Hospital, which is run by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, but is not yet operational.
This temporary unit is part of the funding agreement with the national CDC team to provide a better diagnostic service to the Thanet population. The mobile MRI unit is expected to open in the car park of the Deal site this summer and potentially operate for up to six months until the Thanet CDC is fully operational.
The NHS booking team reviews referrals as they come in and offers a slot at the most appropriate site, based on people’s locations and needs, along with available slots. Patients can’t self-refer for a scan, but they can request to go to Deal, if it is clinically appropriate.
East Kent Health Care Partnership Programme Director Karen Sharp said: “The community diagnostic centre will provide quicker access to diagnostic tests closer to home, speeding up the start of treatment and reducing the need for hospital visits.
“As part of the funding arrangement with the national CDC team, we are pleased to offer residents this temporary option for the next few months to access a mobile MRI in Deal, before it moves to the permanent unit in Thanet when the hub opens. This offers additional capacity to existing services at Buckland and the QEQM Hospital in Margate.”
Funded by the national NHSE CDC team, the Thanet site will be a ‘spoke’ to the Buckland Community Diagnostic Centre, which opened in Dover in 2022. East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) which owns the Buckland CDC in East Kent will be responsible for the management and delivery of the Thanet CDC (Buckland Spoke) services.
Learning from the success of the Buckland CDC Hub, providing this local capacity will improve attendance for Thanet residents and bring clinicians from a range of services together, to jointly deliver services and make the best use of clinical resources.
Read the Thanet health hub: We're listening full report
