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13
Jun 2023
Ripon hospital to provide more health checks after £1m award
Ripon Community Hospital has been awarded £1 million to expand the number of health checks and scans.
It means GPs will be able to refer more patients to the hospital for life-saving checks closer to home and be diagnosed for a range of conditions.
The NHS England funding is part of an expansion of community diagnostic services announced by the government.
Ripon Community Hospital will refurbish its X-Ray room and equipment and expand the service to six days a week.
The ultrasound room will be extended and its services expanded to six days a week and a second audiology room will be created, with additional staff, to provide more hearing tests in Ripon.
The funding will also help to create two clinic rooms to offer more frequent blood samples and local access to tests such as spirometry, ambulatory ECG and ambulatory blood pressure.
The hospital on Firby Lane, which is part of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, will have capacity for 27,000 checks a year once services are expanded.
A report by Professor Sir Mike Richards called for a significant increase in community diagnostic services outside of acute hospitals.
Building work will be carried out at the hospital before the extra services can start by the end of this year.
Sue Eddleston, a public governor representing Ripon and outlying villages on the Council of Governors for the Harrogate District Foundation Trust, said she "could not be more delighted" by the news, which she added would benefit Ripon residents.
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