London diagnostic centres extend hours as tests accelerate

London’s Community Diagnostic Centres expanded access in 2025, with half of the capital’s 14 sites now running 12 hours a day, seven days a week, while nearly two million checks and scans have been delivered across the city over the past four years, tightening the link between capacity and faster pathways.

Between July 2024 and August 2025, national CDC delivery reached 7.2 million tests and scans, and in August 2025 the NHS in England recorded around 2.35 million diagnostic tests across all settings, indicating that London’s extended opening is feeding into a broader productivity lift.

The immediate effect lands in access: three further London CDCs—Mile End, New Addington and Queen Mary’s Sidcup—are due by the end of 2025, adding slots for modalities such as MRI, CT, ultrasound, X-ray, endoscopy and pathology that underpin earlier decision-making and reduce repeat outpatient appointments.

A complementary shift is visible in ambulance operations: London Ambulance Service increased the share of incidents resolved without conveyance through “hear-and-treat” to 22.1% in the year to March 2025, up from 19.9% a year earlier, which helps keep diagnostic capacity focused on patients who need in-person assessment.

Taken together, the counts and rates point to access and efficiency gains: 14 CDCs in London with half offering 12/7 care, nearly two million London tests over four years, 7.2 million CDC tests nationally since July 2024, around 2.35 million diagnostic tests in August 2025 across England, and a 2.2-point rise in hear-and-treat year on year.

All figures are from NHS England (London region news release, 19 August 2025; Monthly Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity, August 2025) and London Ambulance Service performance updates (August 2025), covering activity to end-August 2025 and the 12 months to March 2025.

31 July 2025 09:36 By London Health News Desk