High street diagnostic centres opening at evenings and weekends
Improved performance on the faster diagnosis standard means that nearly 97,000 more people had cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between July 2024 and June 2025, compared to the same period last year.
At Oldham CDC in Greater Manchester, extended opening hours have cut lung cancer diagnosis times from 42 days to just 18.8 days, while Queen Victoria Hospital CDC in East Grinstead, West Sussex, is recording five times more respiratory patient interactions per session, with 92 per cent avoiding the need for hospital outpatient appointments.
Patients can be referred to CDCs through their GP or hospital-based clinical teams.
Mr Streeting said the Government's 10-year health plan is 'revolutionising how healthcare works' and the measures are helping to bring care closer to the community.
Prof Meghana Pandit, NHS England national medical director, said: 'We know people are living incredibly busy lives and it's vital NHS care reflects that.
'The services provided by community diagnostics centres enable people to receive the all-clear or a diagnosis at a time and location that suits them, whether before a school drop off or after a work shift, and extending their opening hours means more people are being seen more quickly.'
CDCs can provide a range of tests including MRI and CT scans, echocardiography and phlebotomy services.
Wayne Rowlands, who visited the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Community Diagnostic Centre for an emergency CT scan, described it as a 'pleasant experience' in a setting that was 'very bright and not at all like a hospital'.
The Government's Plan for Change is backed by more than £6bn of additional capital investment to improve capacity for elective, diagnostic, and urgent care services over five years, with more than £600m capital funding committed for 2025-26 to transform diagnostic services.
This includes funding up to five additional CDCs in 2025-26 and extending opening hours for all CDCs at evenings and at weekends.
Laura Challinor, of the Blood Cancer UK charity, welcomed the move but said more must be done to tackle regional variation and speed up testing.
She said: 'It's imperative that everyone affected by blood cancer can readily access the diagnostic tests and appointments they need.
'With blood cancer being the UK's third biggest cancer killer and survival lagging behind countries of similar wealth and health, doing all we can to turn that tide is critical.'
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