Transforming Diagnostic Services with Community Diagnostic Hubs in Shropshire and Telford

Community Diagnostic Hubs briefing September2021

Community Diagnostic Hubs Overview Key Data Next Steps The proposal is to transform diagnostic services through the introduction of Community Diagnostic Hubs (CDHs) based on national recommendation: Richards Review of Diagnostic Capacity. Why this location? Hadley is within 10% of most deprived areas in England and Wales high health inequalities Develop detailed drawings for new CDH Initiate work on building before end of calendar year 2021 Early engagement work has taken place with nearly 1,300 responses to a recent questionnaire: A new Royal Shrewsbury Hospital pod, separating elective from urgent scans, currently being built. It will see elective diagnostics delivered away from acute hospital sites and separately from urgent diagnostic scans - reducing waiting times and risk of cancellation, improving patient experience and outcomes. s Four out of five (80%) agreeing that there was a need for CDHs in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Funding is in place and this is scheduled to open in September/October. 82% of people agree the NHS should invest in CDHs STW has been successful in being allocated 4.5 million of capital funding to develop and open a pilot CDH in the TF1/TF3 Telford. This could open by the end of Q1/Q2 2022. Subject to public engagement, we are proposing to site three further CDHs in STW over the next 4-5 years (Shrewsbury, North Shropshire and South Shropshire). 76% of people stating that it would make it easier for patients to access services The capital funding is backed up by an initial revenue fund of more than 2.4 million to support staffing, leasing and expected requirements. Despite the extremely positive reaction to CDHs there were some concerns expressed namely that there were not enough qualified staff for the service.

Engagement Activity 10 Key Findings 1) Satisfaction with current testing services is good, but some criticism of Imaging and Heart and Lung testing Blood Testing and Imaging Testing were the highest rated health services measured in the survey However, almost a fifth of services users rated Imaging Testing (19%) and Heart and Lung testing (21%) as poor suggesting that there are some issues 2) Community Diagnostic Hubs were well received by participants Three quarters (73%) rated CDHs as good, very good or excellent Over three quarters (79%) stated that CDHs would improve testing services Over four our of five (82%) agreed that CDHs were something that the NHS should be investing in s 3) Positive opinion of Community Diagnostic Hubs was shared by all sub-groups Positive opinion of CDHs was shared among all sub-groups, with all sub-groups holding positive opinions of CDHs (e.g. by sex, age, social grade, area of deprivation etc.) 4) Community Diagnostic Hubs meet key service improvement needs The principal improvements to current testing services were improvements to: waiting times to get a test (53%), time taken to get test results (31%) and more locations where tests are offered (28%). All benefits that are potentially offered by CDHs. 5) Community Diagnostic Hubs are expected to increase capacity and improve services 76% stated that CDHs will improve the number of tests that can be carried out 75% stated that CDHs will improve the waiting time to get a test 64% stated that CDHs will improve the number of cancelled tests

Engagement Activity 10 Key Findings continued.. 6) Community Diagnostic Hubs will help make services more accessible Three quarters (76%) thought that CDHs will make it easier to access services CDHs were thought to help accessibility to all populations, but particularly those with chronic health conditions (69% easier) , the elderly (68%) and people with disabilities (65%) 7) There are some concerns about how Community Diagnostic Hubs will be staffed Three quarters (75%) agreed that the NHS would have to employ more specialist testing staff Three quarters (73%) agreed that the NHS would have to employ more nurses s 8) There is potential for Community Diagnostic Hubs to extend the services offered Over two thirds (71%) agreed that CDHs have the potential to offer services that reflect local needs. Two thirds stated that they would like breast screening included at CDHs and over half (57%) wanted mental health services to be included 9) NHS staff were also positive towards Community Diagnostic Hubs, but had some concerns about staffing Three quarters (76%) of NHS staff stated that CDHs would improve testing services Two thirds (66%) of NHS staff expressed a concern that there would not be enough qualified staff for the service 10) Opinion about the pilot location varied by where respondents lived any location must be car friendly Opinion of the Hadley and Hortonwood location was sensitive to the location of the respondent. Respondents living in postcode TF1 were the most positive (66% a good location for the pilot CDH) Respondents would be willing to travel 21 minutes on average to get to a CDH Four out of five (82%) stated that ease of car parking was important about any CDH location and three out of five (62%) stated that the cost of car parking was important 4

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