A patient’s donation means people will be able to have a potentially life-saving test at their nearest GP surgery.

Doddington Medical Centre now has a Cobas machine, which costs £1,200 and is used to test for deep vein thrombosis.

Normally you would have to go to hospital for tests.

Now the 10 surgeries in the Isle of Ely Local Commissioning Group, which include Manea surgery and the George Clare Surgery at Chatteris, will be invited to offer the service after it was agreed to introduce it at a board meeting last month.

The service is also provided at the Minor Injuries Unit at Doddington Hospital.

Mr Barclay, who is pushing for improved health provision in Fenland as part of his Treat Me Local campaign, said: “It is good news that more patients will be able to have the potentially life-saving tests at their own doctor’s surgeries, which means no more unnecessary and time consuming trips to hospital.

“It is a simple procedure, but will save the NHS money as only those who need treatment will end up in hospital.

“It is great that local health care providers are now recognising the benefits of having services closer to home for patients in this constituency. Hopefully this is the start of more improvements to come.”