NHS £30m funding boost to speed up tests
NHS is spending nearly £30m to speed up scans and tests to diagnose life-threatening conditions faster across Hampshire.
It said plans for three new and expanded community diagnostic centres (CDCs) would also make it easier for patients to access the services.
res in Andover, Lymington and Milton would deliver an extra 255,00 appointments a year.
rvices across the different sites would be accessed via GP surgeries.
CDC at Lymington New Forest Hospital is already seeing the benefit of the investment.
Within a week of seeing her GP, Jan Rimbault had an appointment at the hospital for a gastroscopy [a test to check the upper digestive system].
She told the BBC: "I had thought I might land up in Bournemouth or Southampton and I wasn't looking forward to it.
"Then I found out this unit here was ready and waiting for me. Wonderful."
Within 24 hours, Ms Rimbault had been given the all clear.
Sue Harvey, programme manager at Southampton and South West Hampshire's CDC, said the increased investment was enabling the NHS to take diagnostics "nearer to patients' homes".
"Patients can be diagnosed quicker and get on to their treatments far quicker once we've done that diagnostic initial step," she said.
w CDC at Andover War Memorial Hospital is due to open next year and Alex Whitfield, chief executive of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the team was "incredibly excited".
ree new Hampshire centres:
Andover CDC, which will open its doors from early 2023. Run by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, an MRI scanner would be added to its existing CT scanner, an ultrasound hub will be developed and x-ray capacity increased.
St Mary's Community Health Campus in Milton, Portsmouth. Led by Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, it would offer mammograms, blood tests, ultrasounds and heart monitoring. 
Lymington New Forest Hospital, provided in partnership by three NHS Trusts (University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Solent NHS Trust and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust). There will also be a standard CDC at the Royal South Hants Hospital and two smaller hubs at Hythe Hospital and Romsey Community Hospital. 
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