Community Diagnostic Centres: Equality

(asked on 2nd July 2026) - View Source
Questioner
Lord Kamall Portrait
Lord Kamall
(Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce disparities in timely access to diagnostic testing at community-based facilities.

Answered by
Baroness Merron Portrait
Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 20th July 2026

Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) offer patients a wide range of diagnostic tests closer to home and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken, reducing the need for hospital visits and potentially speeding up the start of treatment. CDCs are part of the Government’s aim to shift care out of hospitals and into communities.

NHS England publishes guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) on CDCs. The 2026 version of the guidance will be published imminently. The guidance sets out the core tests for a CDC. The following table shows the overall type of core diagnostic tests available, as well as the individual modalities:

Modality

Requirements

Imaging

  • Computed Tomography;
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging;
  • Ultrasound; and
  • Plain X-ray.

Pathology

  • Phlebotomy;
  • N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP, delivered either via point of care testing or via standard phlebotomy with laboratory processing through network pathology services); and
  • Point of care testing (POCT).

Physiological science

Full range of cardiology tests, for example:

  • 12-lead electrocardiography;
  • Ambulatory electrocardiography, for example, Holter, patch monitor;
  • Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring; and
  • Trans-thoracic echocardiogram.

Full range of respiratory tests, for example:

  • Spot check pulse oximetry;
  • POCT capillary blood gas assessment;
  • Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO);
  • Spirometry with bronchodilator response;
  • Full lung function tests, including lung volumes, gas transfer and spirometry;
  • Field tests, six-minute walk test; and
  • Cardiac Output monitoring.

Other

Outpatient clinic room capacity


In addition, the following table shows the overall type of optional diagnostic tests available, as well as the individual modalities:

Modality

Test

Imaging

  • Mammography;
  • Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan;
  • Dermoscopy; and
  • Elastography, for example, Fibroscan.

Physiological science

  • Urodynamics;
  • Ophthalmology services;
  • Audiology services;
  • Non-complex neurophysiology, for example for carpal tunnel syndrome; and
  • Sleep studies.

Pathology

  • Simple biopsies that are outpatient in nature, for instance skin and breast, and appropriate to the pathways and services being offered; and
  • Genomic testing where pathways are in place to do so.

Endoscopy

  • Colon capsule endoscopy;
  • Capsule sponge;
  • Flexible cystoscopy;
  • Hysteroscopy;
  • Colposcopy;
  • Transnasal endoscopy;
  • Flexible sigmoidoscopy;
  • Gastroscopy; and
  • Colonoscopy.

Other

  • Screening services; and
  • Advice services.

Data is not collected on timely access to diagnostic services for those from underrepresented groups including women, and those from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds.

One of the central priorities for CDCs is to offer tests for underserved populations. That is why the vast majority of CDCs are located in, or within easy public transport access from, the areas with the most deprivation and health inequalities in each ICB.

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