It was all smiles at our official ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of our new Community Diagnostic Centre at Broad Street Plaza in Halifax on Wednesday.

Chief Executive Brendan Brown was joined by Deputy Director of Operations Sarah Clenton and our Service Leads to cut the ribbon and celebrate the occasion. Around 50 colleagues and partners, including the Mayor of Calderdale, Cllr Anne Kingstone, were there to join in the celebrations. 

Also at the event were a crew from Sky News, who were there to film a package about the importance of community-based NHS services to coincide with the publication of the Lord Darzi Report. You can watch the report on Sky’s YouTube channel.

The new facility welcomed its first patients back in July and is already seeing around 1,000 patients a week. 74-year-old Peter Cole attended Broad Street CDC twice in one week for two different diagnostic tests, including a CT scan. He said: “It all looks very nice – very fresh and new. Having a bus station close by is very convenient – I came on the bus today. It’s a totally different experience – in a good way!”

A green ribbon was used at the event because the building was designed around a nature theme. Different areas of the building have different nature motifs to promote a feeling of calm and relaxation for patients, visitors and colleagues.

Deputy Director of Operations, Sarah Clenton, said: "It was such a happy day. It was great to see so many smiling faces in the same room celebrating just how far we've come. I'm so grateful to everyone involved - it was no mean feat building and opening a brand new community diagnostic centre in a year, but we managed it and it's already making such a difference for patients and colleagues alike." 

Trainee Associate Practitioner in Cardiology Corina Talpau and Clinical Support Worker Emma Wood helped support the event on the day. Corina said: "It was a great day. We especially enjoyed meeting all the different departments that work here in the CDC. We don't get to see each other all that much whilst working but today we've gotten to know everyone a little more now."

Emma said: "This is a lovely, relaxing environment to work in and for patients as well. We have amazing facilities - like a kitchen! It feels like it's been designed with colleagues in mind."