The Government’s Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, has officially opened the Midlands’ first Community Diagnostic Centre in a retail setting.
Located in Chelmsley Wood Shopping Centre, the new £15 million North Solihull Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) will provide residents with access to diagnostic tests for an array of illnesses as part of work to tackle health inequalities and reduce NHS waiting lists. Stephen Kinnock cut the ribbon to officially mark the opening of the new facility, which provides the latest diagnostic imaging technology for X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, and other health screening, including endoscopy.
Expected to annually over 65,000 tests, the centre is open seven days a week from 8 am to 8 pm. It is not only the Midlands’ first centre of its kind in a shopping centre, but also one of England’s largest CDCs.
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.
Stephen Kinnock said: “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 to see first-hand how this centre is helping cut waiting times and bringing care closer to home. This is exactly the kind of innovative, community-focused healthcare that our Plan for Change is delivering – putting patients first, and building an NHS fit for the future.”
David Melbourne, Chief Executive at NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board, said: “The opening of our new Community Diagnostic Centre – the first of its kind in a shopping centre in the Midlands and at the heart of the community – marks a major step forward in bringing healthcare closer to where people live and work. By making essential tests and scans more accessible, we’re putting our patients first, and not only easing the pressure on our busy hospitals, but also helping patients get the diagnosis and treatment that they need more quickly.”
Geoff Searle, InHealth’s Chief Executive, said: “We’re incredibly pleased to have worked with our NHS partners in the Midlands to create this new centre, which signifies another step forward in providing additional capacity, improving health outcomes, and increasing the range, scale, and accessibility of services for the local population.”
North Solihull CDC is the second CDC to have fully opened in Birmingham and Solihull following the opening of a CDC at Washwood Heath Health & Wellbeing Centre in east Birmingham in June 2023.
