£8 million funding boost for NHS tests in Black Country

It is part of a national drive to help services recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as quickly as possible.

The local diagnostic recovery plan will see the additional money being used to invest in new equipment such as MRI and CT scanners – and to fund extra staff sessions to deliver around 46,000 new tests in the community.

For some patients it may mean that tests being delivered in different places to where they may have had them before. Where this is the case, invite letters will contain clear information and contact details for if they have any further questions.

Jonathan Fellows, chair designate Black Country Integrated Care System, said: “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff, and the success of the vaccine programme, in recent months we have been able to provide far more planned care for people with non-Covid concerns than we were able to during the first wave of the pandemic

“The mission now is to increase this activity further, ensuring that as many people as possible get the tests and treatment they need, prioritising those with the most urgent clinical need, addressing the longest waiters, and being mindful of the health inequalities Covid-19 highlighted.”

While the NHS has continued to provide non-urgent treatment throughout the pandemic, caring for seriously ill Covid patients and taking additional steps to protect other patients from infection has had an impact on routine, non-Covid testing.

By taking action to keep non-Covid services going safely, the local NHS has been able to carry out nearly half a million diagnostic tests in the last 12 months. Bosses also said efforts to recover services over the summer have been successful, with around the same number of tests performed in April to June this year than in the same period for 2019.

But despite the best efforts of NHS staff, the pressures on staff and equipment during the pandemic, combined with enhanced infection prevention and control measures needed to keep people safe, have had an impact on non-urgent care – leading to many people having to wait longer for tests than they usually would.

Diane Wake, elective care lead for the Black Country and West Birmingham, added: “I recognise how important it is to get diagnostic tests done as quickly as possible and right now too many people are waiting longer than we would like.

"The funding will be used locally to add capacity to our diagnostic centres in Cannock and across Dudley meaning that thousands of local people will be able to get a test sooner than they otherwise might.

“As an early adopter site we will also help provide learning for the whole country on how to continue the momentum on recovery further in a resilient way for both our staff and other services.”