Today, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and Surrey Heartlands ICB are announcing the opening of a brand new Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) in Redhill.
The new centre, which welcomed its first patients today, Monday 26 January, is located in the Belfry Shopping Centre in the heart of Redhill.
The new facilities will increase local access to diagnostic testing – helping tens of thousands of NHS patients get vital NHS tests and checks sooner. The move will also significantly reduce the number of patients needing to travel to East Surrey Hospital for tests such as CT scans, X-rays, ECGs, ultrasounds, and respiratory tests.
The new CDC is expected to carry out almost 40,000 tests and checks in its first year, which could mean around 200,000 fewer patient journeys to East Surrey Hospital over the next five years.
The centre plans to extend its opening hours to offer patients a 12-hour service, seven days a week, within the first year.
Patients referred to the new CDC will also benefit from faster and more seamless experiences – with direct access for GPs to request tests and integrated facilities to support a wider range of assessments to be delivered at a single ‘one stop shop’.
The Trust and its partners are also working with local GP practices on cutting waiting times for patients, especially those most in need.
Andrew Hines, Chief Executive of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust said:
“Helping thousands more patients access faster tests and checks through our new Community Diagnostic Centre in Redhill is a fantastic way to improve services for local people. It responds to the rising demand for diagnostic testing in our communities, whilst helping to reduce waiting times for tens of thousands of local patients every year in line with the NHS 10-year plan.
“Quicker and more efficient patient access also means we can start treatment for the most serious illnesses such as cancer sooner - ensuring more of our patients benefit from earlier diagnosis and better outcomes - which will also help reduce demand and waiting times for local emergency care in the coming years.
“This has been a really important project for the Trust and I want to thank Surrey Heartlands ICB and the Belfry Shopping Centre for working with us on delivering a much-needed new service to our local community.”
Professor Andy Rhodes, Joint Chief Medical Officer at NHS Surrey Heartlands, added:“Community diagnostic centres are really helping to transform care, bringing diagnostics and medical testing much closer to home.“The opening of this new state-of-the-art centre in Redhill town centre is great news for the local community and follows the opening of similar centres in Milford and Woking. The benefits are far-reaching and, as well as helping to see people sooner, and diagnose health issues earlier, the local community is also benefiting from brand new facilities that really bring healthcare onto the High Street in a new and exciting way.”
In preparation the new centre's opening, the Trust has also been talking to local residents in Redhill as part of its public engagement around the launch, and initial feedback has been wholly positive with people welcoming the new addition to the Belfry Shopping Centre, with many excited about the prospect of more appointments right on their doorstep.
The new centre in Redhill, which was funded by NHS England, builds on the Trust’s existing community diagnostics services which were launched at Crawley Hospital in April 2023. While construction on some of the areas of the Trust’s Crawley CDC are still underway, the centre’s temporary services have already delivered over 280,000 tests and checks since they were first expanded in 2023 – with plans for a further 40,000 tests before the end of March 2026.
The centre at Crawley is one of over 170 CDC centres open across England, and by expanding services ahead of the opening of the full centre in 2026, the Trust has helped thousands of local patients benefit from the new services earlier.