Case Study: Whittington Health shows NHS 10-year plan in action
22 Jul 2025
Our Community Diagnostic Centre now offers 18% more appointments in the community without increasing staffing costs
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The publication by the Government of the NHS’s 10 Year Health Plan:?Fit for the Future, set out bold ambitions for reinventing NHS care around patients and shifting services into communities. At Wood Green Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) which provides X-Ray, blood tests, specialist eye tests, Ultrasound, CT and MRI scanning in the Mall shopping centre we’re already delivering on that vision by expanding access to vital diagnostic services — helping patients get the right care, sooner.
From January this year we extended CT and MRI scanning from 8.00am to 8.00pm, Monday to Friday, boosting weekly appointments by 18% without hiring extra staff. By reorganising staff rotas and partnering with The Mall for building access and parking support we created more flexibility for local people, especially commuters and carers to book scans outside “office” hours.
Access to faster diagnostics matter because it reduces waiting and anxiety, enables earlier diagnosis or reassurance and speeds up getting those who need it into treatment and therefore helping to improves outcomes.
In order to boost capacity we made a number of changes behind the scenes, including:
- Booking template redesign which maximises the use of our slots
- Regular capacity reviews which ensure full appointment utilisation
- Daily team huddles across radiographers, booking staff, and clinicians to prioritise urgent referrals
- Extra weekend MRI lists are provided in times of high demand which helps prevent backlogs
These measures help patients wait less, even during busy periods.
Wood Green CDC consistently meets the NHS’s DM01 standard, which requires 99?% of patients to receive key diagnostics (like CT, MRI, ultrasound or endoscopy) within six weeks of referral. This aligns with the 10 Year Plan’s goals for timely, high quality care near to where they live and not just in “traditional” hospital settings.
The Government’s 10 Year Plan emphasises three major shifts:
- From hospital to community — bringing care closer to home.
- From analogue to digital — giving patients more control.
- From sickness to prevention — catching issues early
By enabling timely diagnostics, our Wood Green CDC shows how Whittington Health NHS Trust is already delivering the hospital to community vision and supporting earlier intervention — helping local people stay healthier and live longer, healthier lives.
Our success is a low cost, high impact blueprint. It demonstrates how smarter staffing, smarter scheduling, and partnerships can deliver better care — and it’s now under review for wider adoption across North Central London and beyond.
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