Whitworth Hospital – extended x-ray hours and phlebotomy
From Monday (6 February) x-ray availability will be extended at Whitworth Hospital to run seven-days-a-week from 8am to 8pm, during the opening hours of the urgent treatment centre. Until now, x-ray has been available on a Monday to Friday basis and only during normal working hours.
The welcome extension of the availability of x-ray services on the Whitworth site is part of developments being introduced to create a community diagnostic centre within the hospital. It will also see phlebotomy (blood testing) services introduced on site from Tuesday (7 February), running Tuesdays and Thursday, 10am to 1.45pm.
Over the next few months, more diagnostic services are planned at Whitworth, to include: ultrasound, point of care testing (also called POCT, which will help clinicians to get quick access to follow-up tests) and increased blood testing capacity.
Community diagnostic centres are being developed across the country as part of a drive to improve access - and ease of access - to crucial diagnostic tests so that patients can receive these closer to home, without travelling to big acute hospitals. The aim is also to speed up the diagnostic process for many patients.
We are working in partnership with Chesterfield Royal Hospital to develop Whitworth Hospital in Darley Dale as the main location for North Derbyshire’s community diagnostic centre. Clinical teams from Chesterfield Royal will provide the diagnostic equipment and staffing. Chesterfield Royal is beginning to communicate with patients about the availability of diagnostic services, and free parking, at Whitworth Hospital.
Matlock Hospitals League of Friends has donated £130,000 to support building works to adapt previously non-clinical areas/meeting rooms at Whitworth Hospital into diagnostic spaces. This has enabled a 'diagnostics corridor' to be created with phlebotomy, point-of-care-testing and ultrasound located on opposite sides of the same corridor supporting the one-stop-shop approach.
The other chosen locations for community diagnostic centres in Derby and Derbyshire are Ilkeston Community Hospital and Florence Nightingale Community Hospital, Derby. You can find more details about community diagnostic centres here: Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) | Health Education England (hee.nhs.uk)