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Endoscopy

Our Endoscopy department

Our Endoscopy department offers a complete range of high-quality diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic services using advanced technologies.

Endoscopy is the term used to describe the direct visual examination of any part of the inside of the body that can be reached through a natural orifice. This can be through:

  • the mouth into the stomach (a Gastroscopy / Oesophago-Gastro-Duodenoscopy (OGD))
  • through the anus into the large bowel (a Colonoscopy)
  • through the anus into the first part of the large bowel (a Flexible Sigmoidoscopy)
  • through the mouth/nose into the lungs (a Bronchoscopy)
  • another examination performed by the endoscopy staff is ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography), which is a test to examine the tubes that drain bile from your liver and digestive juices from your pancreas.

Our service is available Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm, to outpatients and a 24-hour service is accessible for all inpatients. Our endoscopy unit is situated on the left (after The Day Surgery Unit) as you come into the site via the main road.

Our endoscopy unit has a waiting area with two admission rooms, six patient preparation rooms, four procedure rooms, separate male and female recovery areas and a discharge lounge. We also have a specialised Capsule Endoscopy (Pillcam) reading room. The spacious waiting area enables friends / relatives to remain on the unit and all areas have accessible toileting facilities. We estimate the time within the department to be three hours however, this can vary depending upon the procedures being undertaken.

You can read more about our new Endoscopy Unit in the media release published on our Media Hub.

We also offer some endoscopy services from the North Cambridgeshire Hospital (NCH). The endoscopy service at NCH is situated on Peckover Ward. They have one procedure room on Peckover with two recovery areas. They have private areas for the admission and discharge process and an area for relatives/ friends to wait.

This area can become busy at both sites, and we request that you are accompanied by only one person. Your accompanying adult may accompany you for your admission and discharge during your visit however they are discouraged from the clinical area unless in special circumstances. We do encourage; however this is your choice, that this person joins you for your discharge as the results of your procedure will be explained at this time.

Our Endoscopy team

The team of endoscopists includes members from all the key areas of medicine, surgery, respiratory medicine and also includes specialist GP’s. The endoscopists are supported by nursing and administration team.

  • Clinical Lead- Dr Karanth, Consultant Gastroenterologist
  • Matron - Helen Smith
  • Unit manager – Alexandra Harris

Useful document links

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Useful website links

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