Professor Sir Mike Richards (pictured above, second left) visited our Trust on Monday 19 June to find out more about our work to improve diagnostic services and reduce waiting times.

Following a long career as a consultant oncologist, Sir Mike has also been the National Cancer Director and Chief Inspector of Hospitals. It was his report into diagnostic services in 2020 which recommended the introduction of clinical diagnostic centres (CDC), where facilities are based in locations away from main hospital sites.

We’re introducing a CDC at Barking Community Hospital and have already added additional diagnostic capacity with mobile CT and MRI scanners. Sir Mike, pictured above on site with members of our team, was shown around and heard more about the next phase of work which will see us construct a new building to house scanning equipment and ultrasound, alongside consultation rooms for a range of other tests.

Sir Mike said: “I’m really excited by what I’ve seen and heard. There are some really interesting developments being tested and introduced here, including the transnasal endoscopy and the robotic colonoscopy.

“These new ways of doing things really will bring benefits to patients and over time, reduce waiting lists.”

He also visited our Elective Surgical Hub at King George Hospital, where he got to see a transnasal endoscopy, where the scope is inserted through the nose, as well as a robotic colonoscopy. Both procedures are much less invasive and painful for patients and require less recovery time. Pictured above is Sir Mike controlling our robotic colonoscopy.

Sas Banerjee, Endoscopy Lead at our Trust and the Endoscopy Clinical Director for London, said:

“This was a great opportunity to demonstrate our continuous improvement within endoscopy and radiology, and discuss the ethos of elective surgical hubs and CDCs working together.

“During our visit to Barking Community Hospital, we were also able to talk with Sir Mike about how the CDC will help reduce health inequalities across communities where there is a high level of deprivation.”

Find out more about our work to reduce waiting times for our patients.