RCR responds to plans to expand CDCs

On Monday 13th April 2026, the government announced a £237 million investment in community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to boost diagnostic capacity in England.  

In response, Dr Stephen Harden, President of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), said: 

“This latest expansion of CDCs is a positive step towards better access to diagnostic tests. 

But to meet ambitions set out in the National Cancer Plan for England to catch cancer earlier, we urgently need more radiologists – the essential doctors who interpret scans and play a crucial role in diagnosis.

Carrying out more scans does not automatically mean quicker diagnosis and treatment for patients. There is already a severe, chronic shortage of radiologists. Without more of them to handle the increased workload from more CDCs, patients could have to wait even longer for scan results, with harmful consequences. The NHS must train up more radiologists, or its efforts to scale up testing will not provide the benefit patients so desperately need.”