Hospital opens new community diagnostic centre

The new facility aims to speed up patient diagnosis

A hospital has opened a "fantastic new facility" that aims to speeds up patient diagnosis.

It is hoped the community diagnostic centre at the Isle of Wight's hospital will provide "life-saving checks" for patients with long-term health conditions, including strokes and cancer.

Patient checks at the centre will cover fields such as cardiac physiology, respiratory physiology, sleep studies, fractures and phlebotomy.

Chief officer of the Isle of Wight NHS Trust Joe Smyth said the centre would "reduce the number of times people will have to come to hospital".

The unit will also offer diagnostic imaging including ultrasound, CT scanning and plain film X-ray.

One staff member said the centre was "such a lovely place to work" and added that it was "really lovely to see patients filling in the seats”.

Staff said they are delighted to see the new Community Diagnostic Centre open

Chief operating officer at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust Vicky Lauchlan said the new centre had created more than 40 jobs.

She said: "Existing and new staff, who have been recruited locally, have benefitted from apprenticeships and other training and development schemes to ensure we have the workforce, along with our fantastic new facility, to provide the very best care to our patients.”

Mr Smyth said: “The new centre will transform the way Islanders will be able to access the diagnostic care they need and reduce the number of times people will have to come to hospital.”

Lara Alloway, chief medical officer of NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, said: “This is great news for patients living on the Island who will see speedier access to vital tests and scans, which are needed to ensure people receive the care they need in a timely way.”