The investment includes four new CDCs in Gorton, Luton, Boston and Bideford during 2026/27, 17 expansions and 15 enhancements.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘As part of the record investment we are making in the NHS's recovery, these new CDCs part of the biggest expansion in NHS diagnostics in a generation - continuing the progress we're making and helping save lives.

‘The NHS should fit around people's lives, not require patients to fit their lives around the NHS. Community diagnostic centres mean patients can get tests, checks and scans while they're doing their shopping on the weekend or on the way to pick up the kids from school - without travelling across town to a hospital.'

The NHS in England carried out a record number of key diagnostic tests - almost 30 million in 2025 - and has carried out an additional 3.5m tests in the first 18 months of this Government compared to the 18 months prior to July 2024.

Rory Deighton, acute care director at The NHS Alliance, said: ‘Opening new CDCs is a clear example of how capital investment in the NHS can speed up diagnosis and treatment. A decade of underinvestment in capital has left the health service struggling with outdated buildings and too few modern diagnostic machines. Capital funding is essential if the NHS is to buy the scanners and equipment needed to make it fit for the future.'