An official ceremony to mark the opening of the centre, which is run as a partnership between North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and independent healthcare provider InHealth, was held on 14 November.

NBT and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) joint chief executive, Maria Kane, said: ‘We are proud to be working in partnership with InHealth to deliver outstanding patient care, enabling people to access the tests they need sooner so that they can either start the treatment they require or be reassured that no further care is required.'

 The CDC is one of five procured by the NHS in the South West under a partnership deal with InHealth, at an annual cost of around £30m. Two other CDCs are already operational, at Weston-super-Mare and Torbay, with the final two under construction at Yeovil and Redruth. Mobile units have been used to provide scans during construction of the permanent buildings.  

The South West strategy of offering more diagnostics from community and accessible sites means hospitals will be able to focus more on complex cases and on urgent and emergency care, with less chance that patients have their appointments postponed at times of high demand. 

Since April there have been more than 11,000 appointments at the Cribbs Causeway site.