COMMUNITY DIAGNOSTICS CENTRES: RESEARCH INTO ACCESS BARRIERS

Area of focus: Improving access to health and care services and increasing trust and confidence.

Why change was needed?

Diagnostics are tests or procedures used to identify a patient’s disease or condition. X-rays, blood tests and scans are all types of diagnostics. 

Finding out what is wrong with a patient is vital to treating them. More than 85% of patients who seek NHS care need a diagnostic test or procedure. Getting the right diagnostics quickly can help health professionals diagnosis a patient’s disease or conditional and make sure the right treatment is pursued.

Diagnostics can be offered in a number of different health care settings, depending on the type of test and patient needs. Some diagnostics may be done at a GP surgery or local pharmacy. Tests that require specific equipment are often done in a hospital or other health care facility. 

What we did 

Three Community Diagnostics Centres (CDCs) are being established across Coventry & Warwickshire to support the reduction of elective waiting times. All CDCs offer a range of diagnostics, though which tests depends on the type/size of the centre. By providing a range of diagnostics, patients can get all the diagnostics tests needed, wherever possible, in a single visit.

The aim of the CDCs is to support faster and earlier diagnosis of key diseases and conditions such as cancer, meaning it is vital for people experiencing the greatest inequalities in healthcare outcomes to come forward for diagnostic testing.

This project planned to undertake research to understand patient behaviours, barriers and access to using the CDCs. Partners in this project included Coventry University, The ICB and Public Health colleagues in Coventry and Warwickshire, as well as voluntary sector organisations.

Whilst focussing on community diagnostics centres, the learning from this research project should be applicable in many different healthcare settings.

Project delivery:

•    Interviews were held with medical professionals, community leaders and members of the public. These were conducted face to face, online or via the telephone.
•   Interviews reflected on experiences on the access and experience of services, perceptions of local inequalities and in which areas barriers are most frequently encountered. 
• Community leaders and member of the public were offered a shopping voucher as a token of thanks.

Outcomes 

The research identified several different barriers, from getting to the test centre, having appropriate communication and accessing appointments. These were summarised in an illustrated leaflet, shown below.