East Surrey Hospital's state-of-the-art endoscopy unit to hold open day (From Redhill And Reigate Life)
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East Surrey Hospital's state-of-the-art endoscopy unit to hold open day
5:05pm Monday 11th March 2013 in Local News
Health chiefs at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill are to throw open the doors to their state-of-the-art endoscopy unit this month for a “demystifying” open day.
The hospital's endoscopy team will be welcoming visitors into the unit on Saturday, March 23, between 10am and 1pm.
Their aim is to demystify the diagnosis of bowel cancer, one of the country's biggest cancer killers, which they are in the forefront of the fight against.
The open day will also shed light on a range of gastro-intestinal and therapeutic services the staff also provide.
An endoscopy is a procedure where the inside of the body is examined using a small camera. They are often performed when people have on-going digestive, swallowing or bowel problems. Procedures include colonoscopy, gastroscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy.
Doctors and nurse specialists will be on hand to answer questions, show people the equipment they use and let them try their hand on a simulator. There will be videos showing and a wide range of information available, including details on bowel cancer screening and inflammatory bowel disease.
Consultant Gastroenterologist Gary Mackenzie said: “We are really aware of how anxious people are before their procedures.”
He said: “They worry they might choke, not be able to breath properly, or they are just embarrassed.”
He added: “Privacy and dignity are really important to all of us. “If someone has a problem, the quicker they find out about it the easier the treatments are, and the more likely it is to be successful.”
The team also runs clinics at Crawley Hospital each week. East Surrey's endoscopy suite opened in late 2011 as part of the hospital's £14 million redevelopment scheme. It has a preparation room, four admission rooms, four procedure rooms and 12 recovery beds in two single sex wards.
The unit deals with hundreds of patients a week and the hospital carries out about 8,000 endoscopy procedures a year. An endoscope is a thin, long, flexible tube that has a video camera at one end, and with which images of the inside of the body are relayed to a television screen. Endoscopes can be inserted into the body through a natural opening, such as through your throat or bottom, or alternatively, can be inserted through a small surgical cut made in the skin. An endoscopy is usually carried out while a person is awake. It is not painful, but can be uncomfortable so a local anesthetic or sedative may be given to help the patient relax.
