Senior leaders from Barking and Dagenham Council visited our Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) to see how it’s benefiting patients.

New council leader Dominic Twomey was joined by Council CEO Fiona Taylor, Cllr Maureen Worby and our Chief Executive Matthew Trainer.

Since opening in April, more than 25,000 patients have used the facility in Barking for tests and scans, improving their outcomes by diagnosing and treating them sooner.

Our guests met teams who work in the centre and provide MRI, CT and ultrasound scans, as well as respiratory and blood tests.

They also learned about the more innovative procedures which help detect certain types of cancer including cytosponge; colon capsules, which are swallowed and travel through the body so a small disposable camera can take photos; and the use of photography in oral cancer.

This has cut the time for patients to receive diagnoses, sped up treatment and reduced anxiety. Over 60% of patients have been told quicker that they didn’t have cancer.

Dominic Twomey said:

It’s eye-opening, a new way of doing things. The care taken to make people feel comfortable is great and having this centre in the heart of the borough can really break down those barriers for people to access healthcare.

Fiona Taylor said:

It’s a fantastic opportunity for our residents to access state-of-the-art technology and get results on the day. This is the future of healthcare and we’re happy to support the CDC.

Matthew Trainer added:

Working closely with our local authorities is so important for providing quality care to our patients, and it was great to show our partners from Barking and Dagenham the wonderful facilities that we have in the borough.

Barking CDC is one of the new sites, along with the Ageing Well centre at the St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub in Hornchurch, that will allow us to carry out an extra 88,000 scans each year.