Community Health and Eyecare expands to Worcester

CHEC (Community Health and Eyecare), one of the largest providers of community-based ophthalmology services in the UK, which is based in Preston, Lancashire, has announced the opening of a new treatment centre in Worcester.

The new site will improve accessibility to healthcare services for local residents. As NHS waiting lists are once again hitting record highs, and are expected to continue rising until 2024, the opening of new centres is fundamental to increasing the availability of high-quality healthcare services for patients, the company said.

The new centre will provide ophthalmology and diagnostic endoscopy services for patients. Ophthalmology and endoscopy are two of the highest impacted areas affected by the COVID pandemic. Ophthalmic treatment alone accounted for approximately 10 per cent of NHS waiting lists in 2022.

With the Worcester site due to open in March, it marks the first in a series of planned launches for CHEC in 2023. In 2022, CHEC opened five new treatment centres across England, as well as launching its community services in Dorset.

Jon Dore, Chief Operating Officer at CHEC, said: “It is exciting to be able to announce our plans for 2023. The opening of our new centre in Worcester will further expand our high-quality services across England and help make healthcare more accessible for local residents. Moreover, it demonstrates CHEC’s continued commitment to supporting the NHS in reducing waiting lists across the country.”