University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust and Coventry University are coming together to establish the UK’s first higher education institution co-located in an NHS Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC).
The university plans to deliver teaching, learning, clinical placements and research, enterprise and innovation at the new health centre. Once established, the centre will give the two organisations the opportunity to increase their capacity to educate the workforce of the future, giving students and researchers the ability to make a real-world impact on patients and practice.
The centre, which is expected to see about 90,000 patients annually and provide up to 75,000 additional patient tests a year by 2026, will target heart and lung problems and focus on expanding the city's capacity for diagnosing cancers, due to high rates of premature mortality from those health issues in the Coventry area.
Development of the centre, which will be located in the Paybody Building, Stoney Stanton Road, Coventry, is ongoing, and planned to open in early 2025. Patients will benefit from earlier diagnostic tests closer to home, rather than travelling to University Hospital Coventry, in Walsgrave.
Professor John Latham CBE, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University Group, says: “We are delighted to be involved in a centre that will benefit the health of our local community by targeting problems that are impacting our local population and make access to healthcare in the city centre more accessible.
“This collaboration will also give our healthcare students access to hands-on NHS learning experiences and placement opportunities in the city centre, enhance our participation in clinical research and patient trials, and support UHCW in growing and retaining their workforce.
“I look forward to seeing our students, researchers and staff making a direct impact on our city and creating better futures for themselves and our community.”
The co-location will also support the growth of Coventry University’s research and enterprise in health technology, translational medicine, diagnostics and digital health within the research centres for Health and Life Sciences, Healthcare and Communities, Intelligent Healthcare and Physical Activity, Sports and Exercise Science.
Professor Andy Hardy, Chief Executive at UHCW NHS Trust, adds: “As a Trust we are committed to being rooted in our communities and offering more services for the people of Coventry in a convenient city centre location, reducing the need to travel to University Hospital, Coventry.
“The centre will help to achieve earlier diagnoses for patients through easier, faster and more direct access to the full range of diagnostic tests needed to understand patients’ symptoms. The services offered will also be separate to urgent diagnostic scan facilities, which means shorter waiting times and a reduced risk of cancellation.
“Working in collaboration with Coventry University will provide an opportunity to further develop and grow the future diagnostics workforce.”
