A new £5 million Endoscopy Hub which will benefit Warrington residents has officially opened in the Nightingale Building at Halton Hospital.
The hub, which is part of a wider endoscopy transformation programme, will provide a modern space for diagnostics, surveillance and bowel cancer screening for patients across Cheshire and Merseyside. The space has four new endoscopy rooms, each equipped with state-of-the-art technology and equipment, along with a new recovery area to provide five additional beds.
The dedicated Endoscopy Hub will improve access for patients not only in Warrington and Halton but across the region, with a greater choice of appointments to reduce waiting lists and provide a better patient experience.
Daniel Moore, Acting Chief Executive at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals, said: “It is fantastic to see this dedicated Endoscopy Hub open as the next phase of our development at Halton Hospital. Working together across the region is critical to delivering the best patient care and by providing additional services at a central hub we can offer more capacity to give patients quicker access to vital diagnostic procedures.”
The hub will also provide alternative procedures such as trans-nasal endoscopy, capsule colonoscopy and the innovative cytosponge or ‘pill on a string’ procedure, which are all less invasive and have a faster recovery time for patients. Pill on a string uses a small capsule-shaped device which contains a tiny sponge that is swallowed by patients to collect cell samples. The procedure can be carried out quickly, without the need for sedation, and can replace the need for an endoscopy.
From left, Dr Kapil Dhingra, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Dr Neil Haslam, Endoscopy Network Clinical Lead, Dr Sundaramoorthy Bharathi, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Endoscopy Lead, Dr Ash Bassi, Endoscopy Network Clinical Lead and Dr Larry Loo, Consultant Gastroenterologist in one of the new endoscopy rooms
The Endoscopy Hub has been funded through the Cheshire and Merseyside (C&M) Endoscopy Transformation Programme which aims to improve the provision of endoscopy services across the region for a population of 2.7 million. The purpose of the programme is to ensure services are fit for purpose using the latest technology, whilst creating an ‘endoscopy without borders’ service to enable better access for all patients across C&M.
Dr Neil Haslam, Clinical Lead for the Cheshire and Merseyside Endoscopy Network, said: “This new Endoscopy Hub will support all our trusts to work collaboratively as one service to make best use of our resources to help diagnose and treat people sooner.
“As a network, we are committed to developing services that are fit for purpose, with equal access and shorter waiting times. Having this central hub will provide a welcoming environment that is truly patient focused, offering tests closer to home and an improved overall experience.”
Development work at Halton Hospital continues with the ongoing construction of the £8m purpose-built diagnostics centre and phase two of the theatre’s redevelopment, scheduled to open in 2025.
