News / medtech
Incubator-backed ‘rapid diagnostic’ hub promises to slash NHS waiting lists
An incubator-backed diagnostic centre has set its ambitions to make “NHS waiting lists a thing of the past”.
SAH Diagnostics, developed at UWE Bristol’s Future Space innovation hub, has already treated more than 400,000 patients across 31 NHS trusts since its launch in 2021.
The privately-run centre has recently opened its brick and mortar hub in Bradley Stoke.
Chief executive Feroz Agad said the centre is designed to bring diagnostics closer to communities, reduce hospital demand and ultimately help tackle national waiting lists if replicated across the UK.
Chief executive Feroz Agad with the team at SAH Diagnostics – photo: First Avenue Photography/SAH
He said: “The vision for this centre is to take diagnostics out of the hospital and bring it directly into the community, make it more accessible, which will allow us to drive down waiting lists.
“We want this Bristol facility to be a model for us to replicate throughout the country. My vision is that if we can actually replicate this throughout the country, the UK’s waiting list issue completely goes away.”
The newly-opened unit could significantly cut cancer waiting times and ease pressure on the NHS, according to its operator.
Claire Hazelgrove, MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke speaking to Jonah Rusere, clinical operations lead at SAH – photo: First Avenue Photography/SAH
The hub aims to provide a full end-to-end pathway – from GP referral to biopsy and specialist review – helping patients receive faster diagnoses, particularly for cancer.
The move comes as NHS performance continues to lag, with 76 per cent of trusts missing the 28-day cancer diagnosis target.
SAH has stated that its model is “already outperforming” the benchmark across partner trusts, with ambitions to halve waiting times to just 14 days using its virtual clinic platform.
The company points to strong results elsewhere, including faster prostate cancer diagnoses and dramatically reduced referral times for scans.
Among its recognitions, SAH won a Health Service Journal (HSJ) “gold award” for taking Leicester NHS Trust from being the UK’s worst performer on prostate and skin cancer to the most improved.
The new facility is expected to support up to 14,000 patients a year, offering services such as imaging, cardiology, dermatology, gynaecology and urology.
The diagnostic centre was opened by Claire Hazelgrove, member of parliament for Filton and Bradley Stoke.
She said: “I was pleased to formally open the new cancer diagnostic centre here in Bradley Stoke last week, and to meet chief executive Feroz Agad and the impressive team providing important diagnostic support for local residents.
SAH won a Health Service Journal (HSJ) “gold award” for taking Leicester NHS Trust from being the UK’s worst performer on prostate and skin cancer to the most improved – photo: HSJ/SAH
“As I know with my own family, as so many of us do, when you or a loved one need to be screened for cancer it is an incredibly worrying time, and being able to do this closer to home, without the added stress of a hospital visit can make this a little easier.
NHS partners and local leaders have welcomed the initiative, highlighting its potential to speed up diagnosis, reduce patient anxiety and improve access to care.
The centre will also work with UWE Bristol to provide training opportunities.
SAH also has an office in UWE Bristol’s Future Space.
The new facility is expected to support up to 14,000 patients a year, offering services such as imaging, cardiology, dermatology, gynaecology and urology – photo: First Avenue Photography/SAH
Professor Marc Griffiths, pro-vice chancellor for regional partnerships, engagement & innovation at UWE Bristol, said: “Opening up this centre creates so much opportunity for our students in terms of potential placements.”
He added that it would enable students and staff to be “more embedded within the community”, which in turn would help SAH Diagnostics, the NHS and UWE “achieve their goals around patient outcomes, research and innovative approaches to practice”.
The incubator-backed diagnostics firm has recently opened its brick and mortar hub in Bradley Stoke – photo: SAH
SAH Diagnostics has expressed its plans to launch similar facilities around the country.
Main photo: First Avenue Photography/SAH
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