An extra 13 community diagnostic centres are to join the existing 114 already in operation around England as part of a new drive to boost the use of the independent sector to reduce NHS waiting lists.
The move has been cautiously welcomed by various health experts and by the Labour Party, which said such a step should have been taken much earlier. It came as the current waiting list for routine operations in England stands at a record high of nearly 7.5 million patients.
Community diagnostic centres, which offer patients access to various tests and scans outside hospitals, were introduced in 2021, and the government plans to have as many as 160 operating by 2025.
Last year the government created an Elective Recovery Taskforce made up of academics and experts from the NHS and independent sector to look at ways to reduce backlogs created by the covid pandemic and to cut …