A Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) opened by the James Paget last year has been praised by NHS England for its ‘impressive’ service – and highlighted as a model for other CDCs to follow.
Leaders from the NHS’ Community Diagnostic Centres programme team visited our Northgate CDC in Great Yarmouth last month as part of a national programme to identify best practice.
Northgate welcomed its first patients in April last year, operating in a renovated NHS hospital building based in the heart of a local community.
The NHS team saw first-hand services offered at the centre including CT scans and cardiac and respiratory physiology – and heard about plans to introduce new diagnostic services in the future.
In their formal feedback, the team described Northgate CDC as a ‘busy and well-run centre’, adding that "the service developed at Northgate CDC is impressive and reflects the type of model we would like to see more widely used across CDCs".
In addition, the team noted that the staff at the centre “came across as committed, experienced and happy, which really shone through".
The feedback has been received as the Department for Health and Social Care announces more investment for CDCs nationwide, with Northgate listed as one of 15 to receive ‘targeted enhancements'.
James Paget Executive Managing Director Jonathan Gardner welcomed the feedback as well as the news of additional investment.
“Staff at Northgate have worked really hard over the past year to make the CDC operational, helping deliver diagnostic services which are more accessible for our patients,” he said.
“The feedback from the NHS CDC programme team emphasises what a great job our staff are doing in boosting our diagnostic capacity - while the announcement by the DHSC of more investment underlines the support for developing diagnostics in the heart of a local community.”
Last month, team members at Northgate won a prestigious staff commendation award for their teamwork in making both the opening and operation of the CDC run smoothly.
The reception, healthcare assistant and housekeeping teams at both Northgate, and the Oulton Suite CDC on the James Paget hospital site, were nominated for the commendation for their ‘outstanding commitment, adaptability and professionalism’ as both centres geared up for welcoming their first patients.
