Hopes for shorter waiting lists in east Norfolk and Waveney

Diagnosis and treatment times for patients in east Norfolk and Waveney are expected to improve following the expansion of a diagnostics facility.

The James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has completed the second phase of work at the Northgate Community Diagnostic Centre in Great Yarmouth.

The unit opened in April, with more than 700 patients being given CT scans there since then.

Charlotte Dillaway, the trust’s chief operating officer, said: “These new facilities provide extra diagnostic capacity, helping our patients access tests more quickly, resulting in swifter diagnoses which are so important for treating many conditions.”

The Northgate site is the third community diagnostics unit opened by the trust, with the other two based in Gorleston.

Ms Dillaway said: “Patients referred for CT scans and other diagnostic tests may now be invited to appointments at Northgate CDC as an alternative location to scans provided at the main James Paget Hospital site in Gorleston.”

Among the patients who have attended the diagnostics centre is David Parsley.

Mr Parsley, 83, was told he needed a CT scan on his knee, and he expected to have to drive from his home in Great Yarmouth to the James Paget.

He said: “I didn’t know they carried out scans at the Northgate… It was just so convenient.

“It’s quite a journey to the Paget, and when you get there it can be a job to find parking, so having this facility nearby is great.”

Similar units opened at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn last year and at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in May.