Mayor Andy Burnham opens £10 million community diagnostic centre

Mayor Andy Burnham opens £10 million community diagnostic centre
Credit: Supplied

Manchester (Parliament Politics Magazine) – A £10 million Community Diagnostic Centre opened at Leigh Infirmary, expanding services like CT, MRI, cardiology, and breast screening.

The latest £10 million Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) has been officially inaugurated.

The facility at Leigh Infirmary was unlocked by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.

Mr Burnham stated: “I am delighted to be able to officially open the Community Diagnostic Centre at Leigh Infirmary. These are vital services that are making a real difference to the people of Leigh and the surrounding areas, and it is always a pleasure to be able to celebrate significant milestones such as this.”

The Wrightington, Wigan, and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) observed the launch on November 8 with staff and VIPs. Construction began in December 2022 and finished on time in November 2023. More than 65,000 other tests have already been provided to patients in the borough, with 1,600 trials now being carried out every week.

WWL’s chief executive, Mary Fleming, hailed the development, stating: “It is wonderful to see so many of our staff and partnership colleagues joining us on this special occasion, and of course, Mr Burnham. The diagnostic part of healthcare is key – the earlier you receive your diagnostics, the earlier you can step down and have peace of mind or the quicker it is we can help you and the better the outcome will potentially be.”

How will the new CDC improve healthcare in Leigh?

The CDC presents expanded radiology services, including the latest CT and MRI facilities. It also houses renovated cardiology, phlebotomy, and sleep service departments, expanding capacity for procedures such as X-rays, ultrasounds, ECGs, and lung function tests. A new breast screening service will also be established at the site. The addition of CT and MRI scanning equipment indicates that the trust can offer these courses at Leigh Infirmary for the first time.

Richard Mundon, director of strategy and planning and executive lead for Leigh, stated: “It has been a mammoth exercise to get £10m invested into Leigh and it is vitally important to help address health inequalities and provide services that were not here before to this side of the borough. Having these new CT and MR scanners is a shining example of what it means to bring facilities to those who haven’t had them close before.”

Daniele Naddei

Daniele Naddei is a journalist at Parliament News covering European affairs, was born in Naples on April 8, 1991. He also serves as the Director of the CentroSud24 newspaper. During the period from 2010 to 2013, Naddei completed an internship at the esteemed local radio station Radio Club 91. Subsequently, he became the author of a weekly magazine published by the Italian Volleyball Federation of Campania (FIPAV Campania), which led to his registration in the professional order of Journalists of Campania in early 2014, listed under publicists. From 2013 to 2018, he worked as a freelance photojournalist and cameraman for external services for Rai and various local entities, including TeleCapri, CapriEvent, and TLA. Additionally, between 2014 and 2017, Naddei collaborated full-time with various newspapers in Campania, both in print and online. During this period, he also resumed his role as Editor-in-Chief at Radio Club 91.
Naddei is actively involved as a press officer for several companies and is responsible for editing cultural and social events in the city through his association with the Medea Fattoria Sociale. This experience continued until 2021. Throughout these years, he hosted or collaborated on football sports programs for various local broadcasters, including TLA, TvLuna, TeleCapri, Radio Stonata, Radio Amore, and Radio Antenna Uno.
From 2016 to 2018, Naddei was employed as an editor at newspapers of national interest within the Il24.it circuit, including Internazionale24, Salute24, and OggiScuola. Since 2019, Naddei has been one of the creators of the Rabona television program "Calcio è Passione," which has been broadcast on TeleCapri Sport since 2023.