Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC)

The creation of CDCs was recommended following Professor Sir Mike Richards’ Review of NHS diagnostics capacity in 2020. The review recommended that NHS organisations across England move to providing diagnostic services in Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) and all health systems are expected to include a network of CDCs as part of their health services offer.

The CDCs allow patients to access planned diagnostic care closer to home without the need to attend an acute hospital site. These services are separate from urgent diagnostic scan facilities, which means shorter waiting times and a reduced risk of cancellation, which can happen when more urgent cases take priority. Therefore, this would lead to improved patient experience and outcomes.

Some of the services available through CDC

Blood tests
Cardiology tests (ECG, Echocardiography)
Imaging (CT scans, MRI, Ultrasound, X-rays)
Respiratory tests
Urology tests

CDC Ambitions

The CDCs will help achieve the following ambitions:

To improve population health outcomes by diagnosing health conditions earlier, faster and more accurately

To increase capacity in the diagnostic service by investing in new facilities, equipment and training new staff, contributing to recovery from COVID-19 and reducing pressure on acute hospital sites

To improve productivity and efficiency by streamlining the way we provide acute and elective (planned) diagnostic services where it makes sense to do so; redesigning clinical pathways to reduce unnecessary steps, tests or duplication

To contribute to reducing health inequalities by ensuring everyone has the same access to care and the same health outcomes

To deliver a better diagnostic service and more personalised experience by providing a single point of access to a range of services in the community

To support more joined-up care across primary, community and secondary care.

We are pleased to announce that in 2025, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust will open a new Community Diagnostic Centre at The Belfry shopping centre in Redhill, with construction already well underway.

This new facility will provide patients with convenient access to diagnostic appointments within their community, reducing the need to travel to East Surrey Hospital.

We are also recruiting for a range of clinical and non-clinical roles to support this service. To explore opportunities, visit our current vacancy section here. You will find our CDC roles within each staff group listed.

March 2025

In 2023 Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and NHS Sussex launched plans for a new Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) at Crawley Hospital to reduce waiting times for vital tests and checks.

The Crawley 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 receiving tests and checks.

The final phase of the hub, which is planned to open in early 2026, will offer patients a 12-hour service, six days a week, once fully up and running.

While the extension for the new centre is being built, the refurbishment has already taken place on existing clinical rooms at Crawley Hospital to increase the availability of diagnostic testing and ensure local patients can start to benefit from the new service sooner.

These new diagnostic imaging services launched over the last 2 years have already delivered over 100,000 tests since April 2023 for patients from across Crawley and West Sussex. The services currently being offered at Crawley CDC are: