Urgent efforts are being made by Cambridgeshire health bosses to increase greater use of a £2m community diagnostic centre in Wisbech after MP Steve Barclay accused them of refusing local patients the choice to be treated there.
Mr Barclay said the centre, which opened in 2023, is not being accessed by local residents “forcing them to travel further by diverting them to Ely and other sites and wasting the millions invested in the new facilities”.
Wisbech Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) opened in 2023, and Ely CDC opened in 2024 with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. The centres provide an efficient and more personalised experience for patients by providing a single point of access to a range of services.
But Mr Barclay said it was a scandal local people are not being referred there and “Fenland patients are being betrayed in favour of healthier, wealthier areas.
“Cambridgeshire health bosses are refusing local patients the choice to be treated at the new £2.1m Wisbech Diagnostic Centre.”
He said when the Wisbech CDC opened it’s aim was to play a vital role in helping to diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer and heart disease more quickly.
The Wisbech Community Diagnostic Centre is based at North Cambs Hospital. The service is provided by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and enables patients to access planned diagnostic care without the need to travel to Addenbrooke’s or another acute hospital site.The centre was equipped with mobile CT and MRI scanners and to be open for “12 hours a day seven days a week for thousands of patients in Wisbech and nearby.
“Yet figures I have uncovered show in some months, such as April and October last year, no patients were treated at the Wisbech CDC and that in 7 of the last 21 months fewer than 100 patients a month were treated.
“This is appalling when in another month last year as many as 946 patients were treated at the Wisbech CDC, which shows the facility has scope to see many more patients.
“Thousands of local patients are missing out on speedy, local treatment as a result.”
A spokesperson for NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough said: “We want to make sure that Wisbech Community Diagnostic Centre benefits the health and care of as many local people as possible.
“That’s why we’re working closely with colleagues, including GP practices in the area, to make it even easier for patients to get tests and scans done at the centre in the future.”
The spokesperson added: ““This includes making changes so that people can be referred directly by their GP practice to the centre, helping the local community access care closer to home whilst reducing waiting times.
“We’ve already seen a doubling in the number of people seen at Wisbech CDC in the last four months as a result of this work.”
The NHS spokesperson said: “We are working with GP practices to open up direct referral routes to the CDC in Wisbech, particularly in those areas where we know there’s particularly high demand. To date we’ve already opened up direct access routes to spirometry, with direct routes to echocardiograms and non-obstetric ultrasounds due to come online soon.”
Mr Barclay said: “Health bosses have also refused to add the Wisbech CDC to the places that scans and tests can be booked via the NHS App – artificially suppressing demand from patients many of whom would prefer to have their MRI or CT scan locally.
MP Steve Barclay said: “Health bosses have also refused to add the Wisbech CDC to the places that scans and tests can be booked via the NHS App – artificially suppressing demand from patients many of whom would prefer to have their MRI or CT scan locally.”“This is a textbook case of the failure of health bosses to use the investment in the NHS effectively to improve health productivity, resulting in poorer outcomes for local patients.
“It is also striking how secret they have kept this – where has the public information been on the new CDC services available or job adverts for staff?”
The NE Cambs MP , and former Health Secretary, added: “Yet at the same time health bosses did prioritise recruitment and spending on diversity and inclusion hires, as this job offer illustrates https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/jobadvert/C9310-24-1113 .
“This is perverse when the same health bosses are transferring treatment from an area with higher health needs to the healthier, more affluent parts of the county.”
The MP added: “As Secretary of State for Health I rolled out Community Diagnostic Centres across the country, including the Wisbech Community Diagnostic Centre, to provide a wide range of diagnostic tests closer to patients’ homes and reducing the need for hospital visits.
“After 21 months, there has been sufficient time for recruiting new staff to Wisbech and to get the facility up to full capacity. There is clearly sufficient demand from Fenland patients for MRI and CT scans if their GPs and the NHS App signpost this.”
He said he was urging the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System (ICS) to take immediate action by ensuring:
- Wisbech CDC is fully integrated into the NHS app.
- Fenland GPs are encouraged to book patients into Wisbech CDC.
- Staff recruitment at the Wisbech CDC is prioritised. And an explanation is needed as to why so little has been done over the last 21 months to recruit.
- A published plan on how the ICB will boost utilisation, including an awareness campaign for patients.
- The ICB to publish by postcode and by population group the data on take up of screening programmes, so we can see if patient participation is lower in Fenland in part due to difficulties of access.
Wisbech Diagnostic Centre is based at North Cambridgeshire hospital and advertises the following services:
- Fibroscan
- Respiratory
- Spirometry
- Ultrasound
