'Landmark occasion' as £25million Slough NHS health centre opens for first patients

The first patients walked through the doors of a new £25million health facility in Slough as NHS leaders and politicians celebrated a ‘landmark occasion’ this morning (Monday).

Slough Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), in Church Street next to Upton Hospital, has begun offering the first scans and tests to patients - the first of hundreds set to use the facility every day. 

It is hoped the centre will help improve the health of people in and around Slough by cutting waiting lists for health checkups, as well as enabling faster diagnosis and treatment.

At an opening ceremony for the new facility, the town’s MP Tan Dhesi (Labour) described the CDC as opening as a ‘landmark occasion’ for people living in Slough.

Mr Dhesi said: “In previous years, many of them have been waiting sometimes weeks, sometimes months to get their tests.

“Now they will have that facility right here in the heart of Slough.”

Slough MP Tan Dhesi (Centre) and (L-R) James Clarke and Lance McCarthy from NHS Frimley Health trust

Slough CDC is expected to have the capacity to deal with around 400 patients a day, who can access a range of services including MRIs, X-rays and CT scanning.

Blood tests and ultrasounds are also provided at the site, which is open from 8am until 8pm, seven days a week.

The CDC is operated by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot, and Frimley Park Hospital in Camberley.

The trust’s chief executive officer Lance McCarthy said he was ‘very pleased’ the facility was open, which would provide a ‘genuine extra capacity’ for testing.

“Every new facility is obviously exciting,” he said.

“We’ve got an ambition to be modern and integrated in all that we do – and this is absolutely as modern as you can get in terms of facilities.”

Radiographer Amy Yazdi-Davis uses one of the new X-ray machines at Slough CDC

The trust unveiled a revamped five-year strategy in 2025, which included investment in more modern infrastructure and a more than £50million funding boost for Wexham Park Hospital.

Diagnostics centres are opening across the country as part of a wider NHS push to change how healthcare is accessed, and move some care away from busy hospitals.

Part of Slough CDC’s success will be measured by how it can help relieve pressure on hospital services, offering faster access to tests and diagnosis of illness and disease.

Chief strategy officer for the trust James Clarke described the facility, which is expected to provide around 150,000 tests each year, as a ‘massive change’ for healthcare in the area.

He continued: “What these buildings allow us to do is to take some of the pressure out of the main acute hospitals - out of Wexham Park and Frimley Park Hospital.

“When we're offering that number of tests in the community, it means that we can get our hospitals to focus on the real sickest patients.

“They can be focused on getting them better, whilst getting people diagnosed in the community - and it also allows us to get that treatment earlier.

"We know if we can treat people earlier, their chance of survival is better, and it also costs the NHS less money.”