New endoscopy unit in Swindon will help extra 6,000 patients get care sooner

More than 6,000 extra diagnostic appointments will be made available to patients in Swindon thanks to a new community endoscopy unit, which is currently being built in the town.

Construction of the new facility, which will be based next to the existing West Swindon Health Centre, began earlier this week and is expected to last for approximately six months.

When up and running, the new site will be able to provide diagnostic care for approximately 6,000 patients each year, meaning more people will be able to receive investigative procedures, such as colonoscopies and gastroscopies, sooner and closer to home.

Community diagnostic centres have been highlighted as a major component of the government’s new elective reform plan, which aims to cut waiting lists and accelerate diagnoses of serious conditions, such as cancer.  

Dr Amanda Webb, Chief Medical Officer, Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board, said: “By successfully delivering these new community sites, the ICB is already acting in line with the government’s transformative ambition for the NHS.

“We are on a journey to make local health and care truly accessible for all, and by having more diagnostic services based outside of hospital and closer to people’s homes, we will be able to cut waiting times, see more patients and, most importantly, ensure people can stay healthier for longer.

“This is an exciting time for the NHS in our region, with many of the changes that have been spoken about for some time now firmly taking shape, and we look forward to seeing the tangible impact these initiatives have on the lives of local people.”

By having more services that were once only available in larger hospitals based in the community, people should be able to access care quicker and, in many cases, receive important diagnoses relating to their health and wellbeing sooner.

The new endoscopy unit, which will be managed by clinical teams from the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, is part of a wider programme of work that has already seen three other community diagnostic centres open across the region in the last two years.

Claire Thompson, Chief Officer, Improvement and Partnerships, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted to start 2025 with the news that building work on this new health facility is officially under way.

“For the last two years, the region’s community diagnostic centres have been helping people get tested far more quickly than before, and this state-of-the-art endoscopy unit will allow us to go even further.

“Waiting for a diagnostic test, especially when there is a possibility of something serious like cancer, can be an agonising experience, and one that no person would want to last longer than absolutely necessary.

“This new community facility, along with those already open and those planned for the future, will help us to reduce this anxiety for thousands of people, and ensure that if urgent treatment is needed, it can begin as early as possible.”

The first of the region’s new community diagnostic centres opened at the Sulis Hospital in Bath in March 2023, and was followed 12 months later by two further sites at West Swindon Health Centre and Salisbury Central Health Clinic.

Since April 2024, more than 15,000 patients from across the region have received a test or investigation, such as a CT scan, X-ray or endoscopy procedure, at one of the centres.

By April 2025, it is expected that around 60,000 local people will have visited one or more of the centres for a diagnostic test.

Further information about community diagnostic centres in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire can be found online www.bsw.icb.nhs.uk.