The report, Strengthening the Backbone: Reimagining NHS Diagnostics in England, predicts the diagnostic waiting list could exceed 2m people in 2027.
Marlen Suller, managing director, clinical diagnostics EMEA at Magentus, who commissioned the report said: ‘NHS teams are delivering extraordinary levels of activity, but the report shows that simply doing more tests will not solve the underlying challenge.
‘As demand continues to grow, the NHS needs diagnostic services that work more effectively at scale, make better use of information and technology, and support patients through more efficient pathways of care.'
Despite the NHS delivering more than 2.6m tests in a single month, demand continues to outpace delivery, the report says, with 1.92m people currently waiting for a diagnostic test in England (83% higher than before the pandemic).
Significant regional variation persists, the report adds, with long waits ranging from around 13% to nearly 30% depending on where patients live.
The report recommends:
- moving diagnostics earlier in pathways to support prevention and faster intervention
- improving patient communication and navigation, making diagnostic journeys clearer and easier to understand
- using existing capacity more effectively, including community diagnostic centres and networked working models
- improving interoperability and data sharing across systems and organisations
- expanding workforce capacity, particularly in reporting roles and specialist diagnostic expertise
- designing diagnostics as connected pathways, rather than isolated services or departments
- aligning incentives and funding models to support integrated, whole-pathway care.
An NHS spokesperson said: ‘Latest figures show that the NHS delivered more tests, checks and scans over the last financial year than at any point in its history with 29.9m diagnostic procedures delivered by the NHS including from 170 community diagnostic centres, which provide important diagnostic tests nearer to people's homes.
‘We are determined to keep up progress in bringing waiting times down and that's why we're making it easier to access diagnostic tests with new, expanded or enhanced community diagnostic centres available to patients across England.'
