The UK government has announced £237m for 36 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) across England.
CDCs are local sites, often on high streets, in shopping centres or retail parks, where patients can get tests such as MRI and CT scans without going to hospital.
The investment will pay for four new centres in Gorton in Manchester, Luton, Boston and Bideford, due to open in 2026 and 2027.
A further 17 existing sites will be expanded with extra rooms and scanning equipment, while 15 more will receive targeted upgrades, including extra audiology, ophthalmology and respiratory care services covering hearing, eye and breathing care.
Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: “Thanks to this government’s investment and modernisation, the NHS delivered a record number of tests and scans last year. But there’s still a long way to go before we’re catching disease on time.
“I was one of the lucky ones – my kidney cancer was caught early, and today I’m living cancer-free. But it shouldn’t be a question of luck. The NHS should be there for all of us when we need it, catching illness earlier so we can treat it faster.
“We’re not just investing in more, but delivering differently.
“The NHS should fit around people’s lives, not require patients to fit their lives around the NHS.
“Community diagnostic centres mean patients can get tests, checks and scans while they’re doing their shopping on the weekend or on the way to pick up the kids from school – without travelling across town to a hospital.”
The money is part of a wider £26bn annual investment in the NHS. In 2025, the health service in England carried out almost 30 million diagnostic tests, which the government said was a record, with 3.5 million more tests completed in the first 18 months of the current government than in the 18 months before July 2024.
There are currently 170 CDCs in operation across England.
Professor Stella Vig, national clinical director for elective care at NHS England, said: “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.
“This expansion means even more patients can have vital checks like MRIs, CT scans and ultrasounds in a convenient location at a time that suits them, supporting the NHS’s drive to bring down waiting times even further.”
Rory Deighton, acute care director at the NHS Alliance, said: “This is a welcome investment in expanding diagnostic capacity through new community diagnostic centres, helping patients access tests, checks and scans more quickly and closer to home.
“Opening new centres is a clear example of how capital investment in the NHS can speed up diagnosis and treatment. A decade of underinvestment in capital has left the health service struggling with outdated buildings and too few modern diagnostic machines.
“Capital funding is essential if the NHS is to buy the scanners and equipment needed to make it fit for the future.”
