Info from Cornwall Partnership:
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) and the NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board, have announced that the first patients are now being welcomed at the new Bodmin Community Diagnostic Centre.
The new centre is located on the Bodmin Community Hospital site and will deliver a range of diagnostic services, including CT and MRI scans. It is home to only the fifth CT scanner in Cornwall and the first east of Truro, so good news for Bude and area that such facilities are coming closer.
This is part of a move to have community diagnostic centres located away from acute hospital sites. The centre is more easily accessible to the people of mid, north and east Cornwall, helping to deliver more care closer to home.
In May 2022 there were over 58,000 people on a waiting list in Cornwall. The centre will contribute to an overall reduction in waiting times, elective recovery and referral to treatment targets.
When fully operational, the centre will deliver an additional 120,000 diagnostic tests per year.
Emma Spouse, RCHT Diagnostic Imaging Lead, said:
“RCHT Clinical Imaging are delighted to be providing additional diagnostic imaging services for the local population around Bodmin, including CT, MRI and ultrasound scans from the new Bodmin Community Diagnostic Centre. It will make a real difference for patients to have accessible CT and MRI services in their locality.
“The centre provides a calm, outpatient scanning environment that also alleviates our hard-pressed acute and emergency diagnostic imaging services at Treliske in Truro. Digital technology and connectivity ensures that expert advice and opinion is immediately available to the Bodmin Community Diagnostic Centre clinical staff, supporting our services on this site to meet exemplary standards.
Other benefits of the Bodmin Community Diagnostic Centre include a reduction in travel time and costs. The centre offers free parking.
“Not only am I delighted to see this facility open, I am delighted as a resident of north Cornwall that my fellow residents will not have to travel down the A30 to Truro for their diagnostics. It is fantastic to have this facility available closer to where people live”. Margaret Schwarz, Chair of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
The centre will relieve pressure on the Royal Cornwall, University Hospitals Plymouth and North Devon and Exeter Trusts from an urgent care, patient choice and mutual aid perspective.