A major expansion of the Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) designed to bring vital health checks closer to people’s homes is now underway across England, backed by a government investment of £237 million.
The funding, announced as part of an extra £26 billion per year for the NHS, will see four new centres open in Gorton, Luton, Boston, and Bideford in the 2026/27 financial year. A further 17 existing sites will be expanded and 15 enhanced, in what Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called “the biggest expansion in NHS diagnostics in a generation”.
Shifting care from hospitals to the high street
The programme represents a tangible shift in where the NHS delivers care. Instead of concentrating diagnostic services in acute hospitals, 170 operational CDCs are now situated in more accessible community locations like shopping centres, university campuses, football stadiums, and local health centres.
This network delivered a record 29 million diagnostic tests in England in 2025, an increase of 3.5 million tests in the 18 months to that point. The core aim, according to the Department of Health and Social Care, is to make the NHS “fit around people’s lives, not require patients to fit their lives around the NHS”.
For patients, this has translated into positive experiences. A survey by Healthwatch England found nearly nine in ten CDC users reported a good experience, citing the speed, accessibility, and convenience of care. This aligns with findings from the Patients Association, where almost four in five respondents felt testing facilities should be closer to home.
Secretary of State Wes Streeting has framed the expansion around a personal conviction that “diagnosis shouldn’t be a question of luck,” sharing his own experience of having kidney cancer caught early. He argues that CDCs are critical for catching illnesses earlier and for tackling health inequalities, where those in greatest need often receive the worst access.
Ambition meets persistent system pressures
The expansion seeks to directly address significant and persistent pressures within NHS diagnostic services. While capacity has grown, demand has continued to outstrip it, creating backlogs.
The national target is for 99% of patients to wait less than six weeks for a diagnostic test. This standard has not been met nationally since February 2017. As of November 2024, 19.9% of patients were still waiting six weeks or more. The ambition for the CDC programme is to support up to 17 million tests annually, though as of August 2023, CDCs were carrying out just 6.3% of all national diagnostic activity.
The most significant challenge to achieving this ambition, as identified by the NHS, is workforce shortages. There are substantial vacancies across diagnostic specialities, with an estimated 3,500 extra radiographers needed by 2025.
These diagnostic delays contribute to wider waiting lists. As of January 2026, 7.2 million cases were waiting to start planned hospital treatment, with the 18-week treatment target not met since 2016. Cancer waiting times also remain under strain, with the 62-day treatment target consistently missed, standing at 70.2% in January 2026 against a 75% goal.
In response, NHS England plans to significantly increase the use of the private sector for diagnostic services to meet targets, an approach Mr Streeting has previously supported.
Professor Stella Vig, the National Clinical Director for Elective Care at NHS England, stated: “We’re making it easier to access care, and our network of community diagnostic centres deliver important diagnostic tests nearer to people’s homes, with new, expanded or enhanced centres available to patients across England.”