Expanded community diagnostic services at Crawley Hospital delivers over 100,000 tests and checks in first 18 months
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust deliver more than 100,000 diagnostic tests at Crawley Hospital in 18 months - helping tens of thousands of patients get vital NHS tests and checks sooner.
The Trust’s diagnostic services at Crawley Hospital were first expanded in April 2023 after plans for the new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) at Crawley Hospital were confirmed as part of a national NHS programme. The centre is one of over 165 CDC’s currently open across England, and by expanding services ahead of the opening of the full centre in 2026, the Trust has helped thousands of local patients benefit from the new services earlier.
Some of the scans and tests included in the newly expanded services include CT scans, x-rays, ultrasounds, blood and respiratory tests, and from December a new mammography machine will ensure more patients can have breast cancer checks locally – with 3D biopsy checks only previously available at East Surrey Hospital.
For the first time patients can also now receive MRI scans at Crawley Hospital, and the introduction of an additional CT scanner has helped cut waiting lists and increase Trust productivity – ensuring more local patients referred for vital cancer investigations receive answers as early as possible. The mobile CT unit will also be replaced by a permanent CT machine in the new year.
The final phase of the Crawley CDC project is expected to open in 2026. Once fully up and running, the hub will offer patients a 12-hour service, six days a week in a modern, patient friendly setting.
The CDC is currently made up of existing clinical spaces at Crawley Hospital, with the building project adding new rooms and a “front door” for the new CDC to help increase capacity and make access clearer and easier for patients. While the extension for the new centre is being built, refurbishment has already taken place on existing clinical rooms at Crawley Hospital to increase the availability of diagnostic testing and ensure local patients can benefit sooner.
Further increasing local access to diagnostic testing in Crawley is also already significantly reducing the number of patients needing to travel to East Surrey Hospital for CT and MRI scans, x-rays, ultrasounds, and blood and respiratory tests. This will not only improve patient waiting times and experience, and be greener for the local community, but will be a gamechanger for local patients awaiting a diagnosis.
Angela Stevenson, Chief Executive of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust said:
“We are really proud to be part of this national initiative to increase community access to care, and I am delighted that our work to expand our services last April has already helped tens of thousands of patients in Crawley get tests and checks sooner.
“Rolling out more of our diagnostic services at Crawley has not only increased access, reduced patient waiting times and unnecessary travel to our East Surrey site for those who live in Crawley, but it’s been a gamechanger for local patients in getting them the answers they need as soon as possible.”
Dr James Ramsey, Chief Medical Officer at NHS Sussex said:
“Our patients deserve the highest quality care, and this centre has already been instrumental in enabling thousands of patients to access vital diagnostic services quickly and efficiently such as, X-rays MRI and CT scans, without needing to travel to an acute hospital site.
“We’ve already seen great benefits to people from the current CDCs across Sussex, and we are excited to see the further benefits the Crawley CDC will give patients when the final phase is completed in 2026. There’s no doubt that the new centre will lead to improved patient experience and outcomes and will contribute to shorter waits for people in Sussex.”
The Crawley programme
The development of community diagnostic centres is a significant step forward in enhancing healthcare accessibility and efficiency for our local people and reflects NHS Sussex’s commitment to providing high-quality, timely health care services to patients.The plans for a new CDC began in 2022 as part of the Crawley programme, which focusses on bringing healthcare organisations together to work with local communities on addressing the key health priorities for local people. Patient feedback also revealed that travelling to East Surrey Hospital for diagnostic tests is challenging for many Crawley residents, both in terms of cost and time, and there was a clear message that it was important to have a local service, for local people.