Grantham diagnostic centre expands after £5m investment

The centre includes MRI and CT scanners after a £5m investment in the Gonerby Road site

A health centre that offers tests to patients outside of a hospital setting has expanded.

Grantham's NHS Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) now includes state-of-the-art MRI and CT scanners.

A £5m investment in the site on Gonerby Road at Gonerby Hill Foot is the latest development in Lincolnshire's NHS CDC programme.

Claire Lloyd, CDC programme lead, said it has already supported "more than 75,000 diagnostic tests".

The former Moy Park Hatchery site has been opened as a CDC since April 2022.

Facilities also include changing areas for patients, additional clinical preparation areas, large scanner control rooms and a staff room.

Further investment from United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust and NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board has enabled the CDC to expand.

The MRI scanners were built after further investment from NHS boards in Lincolnshire

With referral from a health professional, patients can access the following services:

• Plain film X-ray

• Non-obstetric ultrasound

• Echocardiogram

• Diabetic Eye Screening

• DEXA scanning

• MRI scans

• CT scans

• AAA screening

Other facilities at Grantham CDC include changing rooms and additional clinical preparation areas

Ms Lloyd added: "All of these planned appointments are run exactly as they would be in our hospitals, including with the same clinical teams and IT systems, but without the potential disruption from emergency care.

"Patients can be seen quicker, potentially closer to home and in a calmer environment."

'Gone are the queues'

Andrew David used Grantham CDC and supports the programme as a patient representative, helping to shape developments on the site and elsewhere in Lincolnshire.

He said: "Gone are the queues, delays and gloomy corridors."

Mr David added that the centre is on a "different level altogether" with "clean, fast, efficient service", staff who put him "completely at ease" and free parking.

Other plans on the CDC programme for 2024 include the £38m development of two new CDCs on Lincoln Science and Innovation Park and in Skegness.