New Nottinghamshire Community Diagnostics Centre providing access to extra health checks to people in Mansfield and Newark

More than 3,000 patients have now accessed a range of additional health checks.

These checks have been introduced across Newark and Mansfield, with an extra 150 more tests having also been introduced in the past few weeks.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals had already introduced over 700 extra health checks each week since the beginning of October to help local patients from across from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire to access vital tests sooner.

Those tests and checks include a range of blood tests, heart scans, MRI and ultrasound scans that have been launched since Nottinghamshire’s first Community Diagnostics Centre or ‘CDC’ open its doors to the public.

On December 4, the first of 47 additional ‘echocardiogram’ heart scans were made available each week at Mansfield Community Hospital to help detect a range of heart conditions.

Those scans are available to patients on weekdays between 9am and 5pm following a referral from their GP, hospital or other healthcare team.

Up to 100 ultrasound scans also launched at the site on the same day, with those scans being offered at the same times following a referral to help patients to access vital scans to detect a range of conditions sooner.

The news means that around 850 more health checks are now being offered to local people each week since the start of October.

The services are already running from a number of locations across the area, including Newark Hospital, Mansfield Community Hospital, and the Nottingham Road Clinic in Mansfield.

A new building will eventually be built to house the new services alongside Mansfield Community Hospital in Stockwell Gate, with work due to begin at the site in spring 2024 ahead of opening its doors in its new home in spring 2025.

David Ainsworth, the director of strategy and partnerships for Sherwood Forest Hospitals, said: “Community Diagnostic Centres are redefining the way patients access the vital tests and health checks they need across the country and we are proud to be bringing Nottinghamshire’s first Community Diagnostics Centre to our area.

“By thinking creatively and working alongside our NHS colleagues across Nottinghamshire and even nationally, we have been able to open the doors of Nottinghamshire's first Community Diagnostics Centre long before the bricks and mortar for the new building are in place to start offering more blood tests to local people even sooner.

“The introduction of the additional health checks has already helped to improve thousands of patients’ experience of their local NHS — either by offering them reassurance or by getting them the diagnosis they need to access the treatment they need more quickly.

“Patients getting health concerns checked out as quickly as possible is so important when it comes to securing an early diagnosis, which is exactly why we are rolling out these additional health checks with such urgency.”

While the full Community Diagnostics Centre is not expected to open its doors until March 2025, Sherwood Forest Hospitals has been proactive in making many of the vital health checks it will offer sooner – long before the ‘bricks and mortar’ of the full centre are in place.

The multimillion-pound plans went on to receive national funding in February 2023, prior to them receiving the vital planning approval they needed to progress in April.

Once built, the centre will become a ‘one-stop shop’ for patients from across Nottinghamshire to access the tests and investigations they need in a single visit, reducing the time it takes for patients to be referred to help them receive an ‘all clear’ or diagnosis sooner.

The full Community Diagnostics Centre is expected to open its doors to patients in 2025.

How will the checks help local patients?

Getting a rapid diagnosis for conditions such as cancer will help patients access the treatments they need more quickly – something that could be genuinely life-saving, as earlier diagnosis is key to improving survival rates and quality of life for those suffering chronic diseases.

Checks available at the full Centre once it is developed will include a host of X-rays, scans and other tests for a range of other conditions, including cancer and other long-term conditions – like heart and lung disease.

As well as delivering tens of thousands of additional health checks each month, the Centre will also create 120 jobs for local people in a range of clinical and non-clinical roles.