THE Midlands first Community Diagnostic Centre opened in Chelmsley Wood on Wednesday, hoping to reduce NHS waiting lists.
Based in an old retail unit in Chelmsley Wood Shopping Centre, the new £15million North Solihull Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) will provide residents with access to diagnostic tests.
The Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock officially opened the facility, alongside Meriden and Solihull East MP Saqib Bhatti and NHS staff.
The centre is expected to deliver more than 65,000 tests annually, and is open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm.
It’s the first centre of its kind in the Midlands to have launched in a shopping centre and is one of the largest CDCs in the country.
Tim Denton-Hawkes, aged 65, of Solihull, is one of the first patients to have been offered an appointment at the Centre.
He said: “I’m really relieved to have an appointment for an MRI scan, which is to explore underlying issues to back pain I have endured for many decades after an injury.
“To have this new facility so close to home is great news and means I can get some answers to hopefully help tackle the pain I experience on a daily basis.”
Delivered by a collaboration between NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and independent specialist provider of diagnostic solutions InHealth, the centre is part of a national programme led by NHS England to support the continued recovery of care.
Health and Social Care Minister, Stephen Kinnock, said: “I’m delighted to formally open this cutting-edge Community Diagnostic Centre, which will make a real difference to patients across Solihull and Birmingham.
“Patients deserve faster diagnoses and shorter waiting times closer to home – and that’s exactly why this government is investing in new centres like this one.
“By bringing vital healthcare services directly into Chelmsley Wood Shopping Centre, we’re making diagnosis and treatment more accessible for everyone. It’s been wonderful to meet patients and staff and see first-hand how this centre is helping cut waiting times and bringing care closer to home.
Mr Bhatti said: “Since I was elected in 2019 I have been fighting for more health resources and it was great to be able to secure the funding for this centre.
“The team here have done a phenomenal job to deliver this, it’s the second largest in the country and it means that people won’t have to queue up for a GP appointment.”
North Solihull CDC is the second CDC to have fully opened in Birmingham and Solihull following the opening of a CDC at Washwood Health Heath Health and Wellbeing Centre in east Birmingham in June 2023.
