More services are now available to patients at a new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) in Great Yarmouth.
The Northgate CDC, located in the former Cranbrook Building at Northgate Hospital in the town, opened on 28 April this year. It’s the third CDC in the area and has been developed with funding from NHS England as part of a commitment to developing Community Diagnostic Centres nationwide.
What is a CDC?
CDCs offer patients a wide range of diagnostic tests closer to home and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken, reducing the need for hospital visits.
The first CDC in the area opened at the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston in July 2024 and the Orthopaedic Centre and Oulton Suite, also located at the James Paget site, opened in January this year.
Initially, patients were able to attend for CT scans only at Northgate following completion of the first phase of development work. Now, patients referred for other diagnostic tests, including cardiac monitoring and sleep and lung function tests, may be invited to the Northgate CDC as an alternative location to the James Paget site.
This follows completion of the second phase of work, which includes the creation of new consultation rooms.
‘Swifter diagnoses’
James Paget Chief Operating Officer Charlotte Dillaway said: “We are delighted that our Community Diagnostic Centre at Northgate is now offering patients a range of tests and scans using the latest equipment within a fully modernised environment, in a community location.
“With Northgate now bringing additional services online, it means we have opened three new diagnostic facilities within the space of just over a year…together, these new facilities provide extra diagnostic capacity, helping our patients access tests more quickly, resulting in swifter diagnoses which are so important for treating many conditions.”
‘So convenient’
Since opening in April, staff at the Northgate CDC have carried out nearly 700 CT scans.
Among the patients who have attended the site is 83-year-old David Parsley, who needed a CT scan on his knee. David lives in Great Yarmouth and believed he would need to drive to the James Paget site in Gorleston for his scan.
He said: “I didn’t know they carried out scans at the Northgate, so it was a surprise.
“It was just so convenient. It’s quite a journey to the Paget and when you get there, it can be a job to find parking – so having this facility nearby is great.”
Cardiac and lung function services are now based at both the Oulton Suite at the James Paget Hospital and the Northgate CDC, with lung diagnostics going live at Northgate later this month. The sleep service is now based at Northgate only, having moved from the Norfolk Coastal Centre site at Beacon Park, Gorleston.
